


Red Diamond Eyes

by foryoureyesonly1



Series: The Monster You Made Me [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Tragedy, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Genei Ryodan | Phantom Troupe Member Kurapika, Hate to Love, M/M, Organized Crime, Revenge, Self-Hatred, Thief Kuroro Lucifer | Chrollo Lucifer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2020-12-24 20:10:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21105308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foryoureyesonly1/pseuds/foryoureyesonly1
Summary: White diamond is a rare, pure mineral that, when it comes into contact with blood, turns red. Legends say white diamond is a blessing, while red diamond is a curse.***Kurta Diamond Jewellery was the biggest jewellery franchise in Yorknew City, but all the branches were robbed in a single day. Every last Kurta was murdered, and all the diamonds were ripped from their dead bodies as well. It was the first big job that the Phantom Troupe did, and it cemented them as the most terrifying gang in the city.But a certain magician with an eye for promising young boys saved a child from the massacre, and  for ten years, Kurapika grew up on the streets feeding on hatred. Dressed as a woman, he dances his way into the underground auction, where young women are bought and sold to the gangs in the city. Infiltrating the Phantom Troupe is easier than he anticipated when he catches the eye of the gang's leader, Chrollo Lucilfer himself.Or, Kurapika infiltrates the Phantom Troupe to get revenge for his family's death, and unintentionally ends up receiving both Chrollo and Hisoka's affections.





	1. Prologue

The house was overflowing with blood, the stench of death clung to the walls like an infection. Kurapika took Pairo's hand, leading him out of the house. Although he was blind, he could still see the danger behind them clearly, so he held on to Kurapika and fled with him. It was true that Kurapika was terrified and he knew that neither he nor Pairo would make it out of this alive, but still he would not give up.

The man chasing them was young, but loud and obnoxious with glee as he followed them.

Kurapika was only seven years old, but all he wanted at this point, was to protect his best friend, who had lost a lot of control in his legs while protecting him years ago. That was the only thought driving him forward. If he could just save Pairo, then everyone else wouldn't have died for nothing.

But fate was too cruel to him.

Their pursuer, apparently fed up with the chase, jumped in front of the two boys, blocking their way. In the pale moonlight, the man's wild dark hair gave him the aura of a wolf on the hunt. He was huge, muscular and Kurapika was sure that he would not be able to withstand any attack from him whatsoever. 

"That's it!" The man laughed. "I live for that. The fear in your face, it just makes killing you even more enjoyable!"

Kurapika stepped forward, still shaking, making sure that he stood between Pairo and this terrifying beast.

"Aren't you having too much fun, Uvo? They are just kids." Someone said approaching the scene.

"Shut up, Nobunaga!" Uvo said. "That one is wearing a white diamond necklace and we need his eyes to open the safe... Well, they don't have to be attached to the rest of the body." Uvo was pointing at Pairo. 

"You won't lay a hand on him!" Kurapika screamed. 

"Who's gonna stop me? A weakling like you?" Uvo asked as he ran towards them.

"Run, Kurapika. My legs already gave out. You can make it if you leave without me." Pairo said quietly. 

In that moment, it was like time slowed down for a moment, and everything that followed imprinted itself vividly into Kurapika's memory.

"We're escaping together!" He shouted turning his back on the enemy to face Pairo, to show him reason.

But Pairo just smiled. "You always want to try new things, see new places and for some reason, you always want to take me with you, even though I always slow you down."

_~Stop it~_

"You've been my eyes and my legs for years, so you haven't been moving as fast as you should have. From now on, don't worry about me, just... survive." Pairo said, stepping slowly forward. "That way, I'll be able to see new things through your eyes as long as you live. I'll be able to walk on new places as you visit them, for both of us."

_~That's not fair~_

"Let's see them together... because you are my best-"

Something like a strong gust of wind struck Kurapika's back, but the impact was barely felt as Pairo pushed him out of the way, so that Uvo's fist struck him instead. Kurapika fell to the ground and watched with horror as Pairo was thrown into the wall from the strike. But Uvo did not stop there, eyes dancing gleefully, he pulled hard on the necklace that Pairo was wearing, choking him with it.

"NOOOOOO!" Helpless on the ground, Kurapika could only scream as he watched his best friend's head being severed from his body. The sheltered boy finally felt his mind snap as everything over came him, fear, anger and pain.

They all died.

Every last one of them.

His parents.

His aunts and uncles. 

His cousins.

His friends. 

Now, it was Pairo.

He was the only one left, he didn't even have a moment to grieve or give light to his tears as Uvo victoriously held Pairo's head in his hands as the blood from it spilled all over him. Kurapika had to survive, he had to. Abandoning his fear, he stood up and ran back towards the house, there had to be a weapon that he could use to fight, anything. 

"I'd advice against going that way, kid." The man named Nobunaga said as Kurapika ran past him. "The only person you'll encounter in there, is Danchou."

Danchou? Their boss? He was that way?

*

Kurapika walked in a sea of his family's blood to reach the living room. Standing there, holding a book, was a young man on the phone.

"-the eyes, so you can empty the safe now. Yeah, take everything.... You lost him? Machi, how many times should I tell you to keep an eye on Hisoka?" He sighed. His voice was surprisingly smooth, no malice in it. "Just take the jewels, he'll catch up eventually." He hung up, and looked down at the boy standing before him. 

Kurapika should have run, but instead, the seven year old boy picked up a discarded gun and pointed it at the leader of the Phantom Troupe. 

The person responsible for all this carnage, was just a teenage boy, less than ten years his senior. Besides the bandage over his forehead, this person's appearance was nothing like Kurapika expected. His clothes, hair and mannerisms were normal, and he appeared to be nothing more than just another handsome school child.

Why would he do this? Why? If he wanted the jewels, he didn't have to kill them.

Chrollo stared back, unfazed in the least by the boy. There was nothing in those eyes that Kurapika could see, they were cold, dead and dark.

"This book, is it yours? There is something written in braille on the first page, but I can't read it." He asked.

The book that Chrollo was holding, was 'Dino Hunter.' A book that Pairo had gotten from Sheila and given to Kurapika on his birthday. There was no braille version, so he would always read it to him when they were together. They would dream about going exploring like the hunter in that book.

"It says, 'To my best friend, from Pairo... let's travel the world and have many adventures too, just like the hunter." Kurapika said quietly. 

"I see. I shall be taking this book. It looks interesting." Chrollo appeared to be pleased.

"Why? What gives you the right to think that you can take whatever you want and get away with it?" Kurapika shouted. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Isn't that the way of the world? The strong take from the weak."

_~That's it? That is your reason for this massacre?~_

"If you wanted the jewels.... you didn't have to kill everyone! You didn't have to cut off their hands to get through the fingerprint scan! You didn't have to gouge out their eyes for the eye scan! You didn't have to bathe the white diamonds in their blood to increase its value! We would have given it to you in exchange for our lives!" The boy's hands were shaking, making the gun he was holding rattle in his hands.

Those gray eyes fixated on him as Chrollo came closer. "Would you? It wouldn't have mattered anyway. We're thieves, my friends and I enjoy the thrill of taking from others."

"Why do you take lives too?! You are also a child like me! So why?"

"Why indeed?" Chrollo wondered. "I don't think I've ever given it much thought. Does it matter? I just saw the white diamond, and I thought it was pretty. It made sense to take it from those who own it."

If he was psychotic, bragging about enjoying the kill, or about how he liked it when people fought back... if he had shown any emotion at all, perhaps Kurapika would have hated him less. But as it stood, his hatred spiked from the apathy on Chrollo's eyes. More hate than Kurapika had ever known he was capable of rose within him directed at this man in front of him.

"By the way, has anyone ever told you that your eyes are as beautifully tragic, like the red diamond?" Chrollo was now standing only a couple of metres in front of Kurapika, watching him intensely. 

"What?" Kurapika asked.

"It's true, they remind me of a poem I once read. Wanna hear it?"

"No."

_"You were pure, like a rare white diamond _

_Shining, glowing and full of life_

_I drowned in you, like I was poisoned _

_Your eyes focused on me, you got tainted _

_Falling apart, breaking your heart_

_Left you bloodstained, like a red diamond _

_For meeting me, you were befallen by tragedy_

_Gave you burning rage, scorching red_

_You became a refined diamond of pure hatred._

"That's the change I see in your eyes. I think you have the most terrifyingly beautiful eyes I have ever seen in my life." Chrollo said. 

Kurapika blinked, and raised the gun. "Are you messing with me?"

"Not at all. I mean it. It's a pity I can't possess those eyes, since I'm going to kill you." He said. "I suppose I could just take them off your corpse, but it's the life, the emotion in them that makes them beautiful."

Kurapika was stunned. He could not understand this psychopath at all.

_~You like the hatred in my eyes? You enjoy the fact that you stole everything from me, including my innocence?~_

"So, what is your name?" Chrollo asked, walking towards him, knife in hand.

"Do you typically ask for your victim's name before you kill them?" Kurapika snapped.

Chrollo seemed to stop and think about it. "No. It has never interested me before."

"Am I special then?"

"Perhaps. After all, if I let you live, I can see from those eyes that you will never stop pursuing us, even if it means letting hatred consume you." Chrollo raised his knife, ready to throw it at him. "I have no interest in broken diamonds."

Kurapika had never held a real gun before, so really, all he could do, was wrap a finger around the trigger while looking at Chrollo. 

"Just so you know who to hate in the afterlife, if there is one, my name is Chrollo Lucilfer."

_~Lucilfer. It's close enough to the devil, I hope the two of you burn together in hell.~_

Kurapika pulled the trigger just as he felt Chrollo's knife logde itself in his throat. As he choked on the blood and fell to the floor unable to breathe, one last thought ran through Kurapika's mind.

_~I'm sorry, Pairo. It looks like neither of us will ever be able to see outside of this castle.~_

***

_"You can't leave the castle, Kurapika. It's too dangerous. Our family is rich, so we may be targeted by criminals after our money!"_

_*_

_"I want to learn more about the outside world."_

_*_

_"This is Sheila. Your new home tutor."_

_*_

_"The hunter is so brave, fighting all sorts of dangerous beasts like this! I want to be as strong as he is too, Sheila. That way I can protect Pairo and we can go together to the outside world!"_

_*_

_"There are people who can teach you to be stronger in the outside world, Kurapika. All you need to do, is open the safe with your eyes and get me the key to the main gate."_

_*_

Kurapika jolted awake. 

_~I'm alive.~_

"Oh♥ You're awake. It's a good thing I'm already done with your body." A person giggled. 

Kurapika looked around. He was in a dark room, on a small, hard bed. And sitting on the bed, watching him in fascination, was a young, red haired man. He wore some light makeup on his face.

If it wasn't for his bandaged neck and the fact that the first thing that came out of his mouth was a cough, Kurapika would have screamed. He recognised this person. He was one of the people who broke in to his house.

"So, Chrollo Lucilfer did not kill me after all? What, does he want me as a slave? Or just to look at my hatred filled eyes?" Kurapika asked, his voice barely audible.

"Even though I saved you, he's the first person on your mind? I'm a little hurt♦" The man said, leaning down closer to the bed, which made Kurapika jerk away from him. "Don't worry, Chrollo thinks you died. I'm Hisoka♣, your saviour."

This person saved him?

"Where did you take me? What are you planning to do?"

A small chuckle. "I could have done _anything _I wanted to you in the week that you've been unconscious... but I'm a patient man. I can hold it in." Hisoka said. "This is the Paladiknight family clinic. They treat anyone here, so it's a neutral zone for the gangs. You'll be safe here♦"

"I don't desire safety. My family is dead. I have nothing left in this world! You think I care about my life?" Anger boiled inside of Kurapika, threatening to break free of him.

"Don't get so worked up, Kura-chan. Your throat still has months worth of healing left. Wouldn't want you losing your voice." He said, ignoring the question.

"How do you know my name? I never told Chrollo." Kurapika demanded.

"It's what the blind boy called you. I had so much fun watching you boys." Hisoka smiled.

_~Watching us?~_

"That's terrible. It was our last day together! Why are you people like this? You taint even the purest moments I spent with my friend?" He asked.

"Of course. The Phantom Troupe will take everything that you fail to protect. Including your very heart." Hisoka stood up. "I'll see you around, Kura-chan♥."

"Wait! You're one of them, aren't you?" Kurapika screamed, or tried to. "Why did you save me?"

"I'm interested in anything Chrollo's interested in." The young man chuckled, "Also, letting you die now would be such a waste♥. I saved you for the same reason why he tried to kill you, he saw that look in your eyes, so _fierce _and so full of hatred... he desired it, but since he couldn't have it, he sought to get rid of it once and for all." Hisoka said, "I, on the other hand, adore that look♥. I want to see more of it~ so untamed, but still so raw~ I can barely contain my excitement."

Kurapika did not know why, but he found that statement sent chills through him. "Bullshit! If I recover, I'll destroy every last one of you!"

"Oooooh~ That's it, that look right there..." Hisoka smiled, and looked down at the boy, "So live, Kura-chan~ get a new identity and live, get stronger, fiercer, and when you're older, show me that look again♥"

As Kurapika watched Hisoka leave, he wondered what his motives were, but that thought soon fell to the back of his mind. He didn't die with everyone, didn't deserve to. Instead, since it was his fault that the enemy was able to gain access to the castle, the least Kurapika could do, was to kill the people who killed them.

It would be ten years before he would meet Chrollo again. 


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten years later.
> 
> Character ages :
> 
> Chrollo (24) and Kurapika. (17)
> 
> Hisoka (26), Leorio (21), Gon and Killua (14)

It was time.

The time had come for Kurapika to put his plan into action. He took a deep breath thinking about the past 10 years and how they affected and shaped him into to the person that he was today. After the Paladiknight family had nursed him back to health when he was a child, but before he was fully healed, he had made his way home to the Kurta castle. There, he had found ashes of his family's dead bodies and his home completely destroyed. 

  
In the area where the safe used to be, where the rare and sentimental white diamonds were sealed, Kurapika found nothing but a single broken red diamond. This could only mean that a white diamond had been bathed in one of his family members' blood. A message was spray painted on the ground, reading:** "We reject no one, so take nothing from us" . **

That was all that the Phantom Troupe left behind. He did not understand what it meant, did not even care. He couldn't think of any meaning to it that could excuse what they did here. All that Kurapika felt in his heart was rage. Rage against the band of thieves, against the world, and against himself for being careless enough to allow them to come into his family's dwelling place. He took the tainted red diamond and held it closely to as a promise to keep his resolve. It was that day that he decided that his life was forfeit. He would live as one who was dead, not for himself. He would live a vengeful spirit carrying the weight of the dead on his shoulders. Everything that he'd known in his entire seven years was gone and he had to start anew, become a different person, a stronger person filled with darkness and eyes teeming with hate, ready to take on the people who made him like this.

For days Kurapika picked up the metal panels from his burned down home and he hauled them off to an abandoned garage in what used to be the servants quarters. Because he wanted to do it himself, it took him years to fix the metal and melt and weld it all together to make a chain. Kurapika wanted a chain so strong that he could use it to capture the spiders once and for all. It was made from his blood, sweat and tears, from his destroyed home. The chain was forged in heat and bitterness and he placed nails all over the chains so that they would pierce whoever they wrapped around. He prayed that his resentment would be enough to tie the spiders down so that they would never be able to hurt anyone again. 

It was not easy for Kurapika to grow up in the streets alone. His parents had always been strict with him, prioritising his education above all else and keeping him safe in the Lukso castle. Kendo was the only sport that they allowed him to practise and he was quite good at it. Now, he had to survive on his own. Kurapika read books on different martial arts styles and always tried them out, training by himself. When he was sure he had mastered a move, he would go and engage all kinds of gangsters in combat in the streets for experience. To keep his identity hidden, he would always switch between going out as a boy or a girl. He targeted and provocked many small gangs so that they would come after him, and he would fight until he dropped, so as to feel alive.

Leorio, the son of the doctors who saved him, wanted to be a doctor like his parents, so whenever Kurapika arrived at the clinic bleeding and wounded to the verge of collapse, he always tended to him. As much as he hated to admit it, it made Kurapika happy that someone worried about him, and took care of him. Yet, still, no matter how many times Leorio begged him to stop, Kurapika always trained harder than anybody with his bokken, and with his bare hands. When he was too injured to go and fight against gangsters in the streets, he would go to the shelter ran by Palm, near to the clinic and read. There were many books there and he found himself absorbed in literature. Thus he was able to train both his mind and his body.

There was a time, two years ago, when he came close to giving up on vengeance and pursuing survival on the streets alongside the people that he cared about. When he was fifteen, working on increasing his stamina at a boxing gymn, he met two twelve year old boys, Gon and Killua .

_"We heard that you're the strongest one in this gymn! Will you teach us to fight too?"_

At first he turned them down, but they were persistent and in the end, he gave in and trained them. The two boys were quick learners and it helped him to get stronger too as he helped them train. Both of them were homeless, Killua having run away from home, and Gon on a search for his deadbeat dad. Kurapika brought them to the Palm Siberia's shelter close to the Paladiknight clinic so they could have a place to live. Leorio also took to the two boys and the moments that the four of them spent together were very precious to Kurapika. From time to time, when he went to destroy a small time gang, they would come and help him fight. No matter how much Kurapika tried to hold himself back from forming attachments, Gon's positive outlook on life and his cheerful personality despite being abandoned by his father and Killua 's resilience and loyalty despite the darkness he went through with his family, were all enough for Kurapika to allow himself to care for others again.

To open up his heart.

But a lot of things happened, and a year ago, when the four of them broke into the Zoldyck mansion to save Alluka, Killua 's sister who suffered from dissociative identity disorder, people got hurt. It reminded Kurapika of how dangerous it was for him to have friends, to have someone to protect, it all reminded him of Pairo and once more strengthened his resolve, so he chose to distance himself from his friends again.

  
*

  
Tonight, Kurapika stood in front of Heaven's Club, and hesitated. It was true that he was not eighteen yet, but it wasn't like this club operated legally, anyway, and dressed like this, there was no way he would be turned out. The bouncer gave him a once over, and nodded to let him in without asking for an ID. In the short distance from the entrance to the bar, Kurapika lost count on how many times he was hit on. It was always this way, he mused as he walked towards the bar. This place was special, even by gang standards, it was the only place in town which doubled as both a nightclub and a fight club. It was loud, people shouting and clapping at the back, since a match was going on. High on testosterone after watching the fights, men would then be entertained by dancing girls barely wearing anything. The cops never did anything about this place since it was backed by the Phantom Troupe and it was run by one of their own, Hisoka Morrow.

"This drink is from that gentleman over there, ma'am." The bartender said when Kurapika reached him.

He did not even bother to turn and see who his secret admirer was, he was on a mission after all. "Forget that. I need to speak with Hisoka. Is he he here?"

The bartender's face twitched slightly and he frowned. "Mr Morrow is busy, he doesn't just see anyone who comes looking for him."

Kurapika rolled his eyes, "He'll wanna see me, I'm an old friend."

"Look, lady, you're pretty, but you're not his type, so forget it." The bartender told him.

"That's not why I'm here. Look, just tell him Kura-chan is here. He'll know who I am, I promise." Kurapika assured him, leaning on the counter.

The bartender sighed, "No, just-"

"Let him, or is it her, into the VIP quarters, I know her." A plain voice said from behind him. "Fancy meeting you here."

Kurapika turned, and was alarmed to see a tall young man with blank black eyes and long sleek dark hair. One of his least favourite people in the world.

"If you say so, Mr Zoldyck." The bartender said, pressing a button and opening the door behind him.

"Illumi, what the hell are you doing here? Here to kill someone?" Kurapika snapped, ungratefully following Illumi through to the VIP area.

"No, not today. I'm here to see Hisoka, like you. What business do you have with him?"

"None of your concern."

"I see. So, how is Kil?" Illumi asked, leading Kurapika into a private room.

Kurapika gritted his teeth to keep from screaming, "You're not gonna ask about Alluka too?" He asked.

"Is Kil still looking after that thi-"

"Do not finish that sentence!" Kurapika threatened.

"Whatever," he responded, sitting down on the booth, and taking out his phone. "Hisoka? I'm here, there's someone who wants to see you. Come out."

In about a minute, the magician entered the room. He had gotten older, and changed a little. Now, he wore his hair a different way, he looked more muscular as well, but otherwise, the changes were minor. Hisoka looked questioningly between Kurapika and Illumi, and Kurapika braced himself. This was the moment of truth, it was not strange that Illumi knew right away who he was since they'd met a year ago when Killua went to save his sister from his family. Hisoka, however, was a different matter. He was the member of the Phantom Troupe who had spent the most time with Kurapika ten years ago. If he couldn't recognise him in this disguise, then the others wouldn't either.

"My, my, Illumi... a surprise visit, and you brought a living guest? Did you miss me♦?" Hisoka asked with a charming smile.

"Not at all. I was in the area, and decided to stop by." Illumi told him flatly.

"Hmm~ and what of the lady? Don't tell me, you're actually taking me up on my proposal to spice up our relationship♥ and you brought her as a gift for-"

"Okay, I'll stop you right there." Kurapika said, having heard enough. "I was wondering how the two of you knew each other, but I guess it's not uncommon for murderers to hang out together. Illumi, can you give us a second?"

"Oh, she's got some spunk in her, is this what you're into, Illumi?" Hisoka asked.

"I have no idea what you mean. I wonder what the two of you have to talk about, I'm really curious. However, I will leave you alone, come find me when you're done. I'm gonna watch the fight." Illumi stood up after that, leaving the two of them alone.

"So, what business do you have with me?" Hisoka asked.

_~He doesn't seem to recognise me~_

"Look at my face, do you remember me? Look at my eyes especially."

Hisoka eyed him again. "Nope, can't say that I do. You seem to have some hostility towards me, did I kill someone important to you?"

Kurapika tensed up. "What about like this, do you recognise me now?" He removed his wig, and wiped off the lipstick from his mouth, but kept his contacts on.

Hisoka smiled, "A boy? Honestly, there's not much of a difference between this and your previous look... very pretty♥. But I still have no idea who you are."

"Good." Kurapika said in relief, wearing his wig again and putting on more lipstick. This meant that the plan was doable, he could infiltrate the Phantom Troupe without Chrollo finding out that it was him. Finally, he would be able to bring the spider to its knees. He then took off his contacts. "It's me, Kurapika."

"Oh~" The surprise was palpable on Hisoka's face. He bent down and looked into Kurapika's eyes. "Yes, that's it... those eyes. They are filled with even more hatred now. Hmm~ oh how you've grown, Kura-chan ♥. I daresay you are almost ready for plucking~"

Well, it did not look like Hisoka's personality had changed much. "You told me to come and see you when I was older, I'm here now. I didn't really want to ask a spider for help, but I don't really have a choice so I'm just going to have to trust you. I need you to get me into the Phantom Troupe."

"What?" 

"I'm not asking you to do it for free or anything, I'll do anything you ask, except kill someone." Kurapika clarified. "Let me work here, I can dance better than any of those girls there. I'll work here, and attract Chrollo Lucilfer's attention in no time at all."

"You want to destroy us from the inside? What makes you think that I'll help you with that? What's to stop me from capturing you right now and delivering you straight to Danchou?" He questioned.

"You may try it if you wish, but you should know I won't hold back when I'm fighting a spider!" Kurapika told him. "Anyway, how will you explain to your boss how I'm alive? I'm not above letting him know that it was you who nursed me back to health if it causes dissent among you."

"Quite a devious♥ pretty little thing aren't you?" Hisoka's face looked thoroughly intrigued. "What is your ultimate goal then? To kill all of us?"

"There are at least two people that need to die. The man who killed Pairo and head of the spider. If I can just get rid of those two, I think the rage inside me might quiet down a little bit."

"No, no. Chrollo is my prey. I've been watching him grow stronger and more beautiful day by day for years. Ooooh♥, I can't wait until I fight him at his best... you can't steal him from under me Kura-chan. Never." He threatened.

"You seem like the type to enjoy a challenge, to be seeking entertainment. Don't you think it will be fun to have a rival to challenge you to your goal? Why don't we see which one of us can actually kill him?" Kurapika said logically. He had not spent the past ten years idling by. He had studied the few members of the Phantom Troupe that he knew, trying to learn their habits and weaknesses. It was not easy, there was very little information about them available, even in the streets. Hisoka was a bit easier to read as he seemed to have his motives laid up right in front of him.

Hisoka gave an interested giggle, "As I thought, all those years ago, letting you live was quite a great idea on my part. I can't wait to see you start fucking things up in the Troupe, I think I'll be quite entertained♣."

"Does that mean you'll help me?"

"You say you will defeat Chrollo, but those are big words and I want to know if you can actually back them up. Come right this way, follow me♠." Hisoka said leading Kurapika out of the VIP area and towards the back of the club. "There is a man who has been harassing my girls here. I was going to get rid of him today. His name is Majitani, and he's nothing more than a small time musclehead from one of the mafia families. Depending on how many hits it takes for you to take him down, I'll consider letting you join the Phantom Troupe." 

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart♥ and hope to die. "

Kurapika walked through the back door and down the small alley way. There were a few girls walking by hurridley and when he got to the back of the club, sure enough there was a man there with a girl that he had pinned against the wall.

"Please sir, don't do this." She begged as his hands roamed around her skin.

"Shut up, you know how much money I got to pay to get into this club?" Majitani asked. "It must mean that you girls must be free for me to do with as I please."

"No, stop. Please sir." The girl cried.

"Hey, you musclehead, you better let the girl go." Kurapika said, walking towards them.

"Huh? Who the fuck are you lady?" Majitani asked in annoyance, turning to look at him.

"Go back inside, Hisoka sent me here." He instructed the girl, on whom it seemed that Majitani's grip had loosened with his arrival. She ran back into the club.

"Well, I suppose you'll do for a replacement, you're pretty enough. Come over here girly before I get a little rough with you." Majitani said, trying to sound threatening. 

_~This is disgusting. It never changes in these streets. Why do people think they can take whatever the hell they want?~_

Kurapika walked over to the man, the anger rising inside of him. Having lived as both a man and a woman on the streets he had experienced this kind of treatment multiple times, and it still made him sick.

"That's right, come over here, bitch." Majitani locked his lips. "That's a nice little skirt you're wearing. Can't wait to rip it off."

"What's the matter? You can't get a girl with that ugly face of yours, so you turn to forcing yourself on them and you call that strength?" He asked angrily.

"What did you say?!" The man screamed and threw a punch at Kurapika, which he dodged effortlessly. He shouldn't be wasting his time with this scrub.

"That girl, she's not a whore." Kurapika said, and with his right hand, he lifted Majitani up by his chin. "And even if she was, she said no. You should leave her the fuck alone!" And with that, Kurapika slammed him into the ground in knocking him unconscious in one strike.

"Oooooooh♥~ You are magnificent. This won't do, I should hold it in.... not yet~ I want to see more from you. I can't wait♣." Hisoka had always been a bit of a creep, but now he was looking at Kurapika like he wanted to gobble him up right there and then.

"Cut it out, Hisoka. Are you gonna hire me or not?" Kurapika asked, stepping out of the magician's reach.

"No, that won't do." Hisoka shook his head.

"What? How am I not qualified to work here? What do you want me to show you my dancing skills in order to be satisfied?" He asked.

"I would love that♦, but that's not why I said no. There are two ways that you can join the Phantom Troupe, do you know what they are?"

"Of course I do, I researched you guys for years. The first is to defeat a member of the Phantom Troupe and take their place. I want to get deep rooted within the troupe, and I would like to have their trust. Defeating one of them to get in would probably get me in, it's true, but I'm sure some of them would resent me for it. That's too much of a hassle to me." Kurapika explained. "The other way is that you have to be chosen by Lucilfer. Now, my sources tell me that the Phantom Troupe is looking to hire a few young girls for their next job, that's why I want to work here, and attract his attention. If he chooses me himself, he'll have no reason to distrust me."

"You're smart too~ you're perfect to keep me entertained." Hisoka smiled. "We need three girls, and we already have two. There's a faster way to get hired by Chrollo than working here. If you grew up on the streets, I'm sure you know where the Undercave bar is. There's a sale in two days, I'll make sure Chrollo goes there, all you need to do is get his attention. But that's easier said than done♠"

Kurapika gasped in disbelief. In the past ten years he had done plenty of things that he was ashamed of, and many things he hated. But still, he had never sunk that low. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! You want me to prostitute myself and hope that bastard buys me?"

"Are you saying you've never done it before?" Hisoka asked. 

_~Asshole. Of course I have, but I never slept with any of them. Besides-~_

"None of them were the man who ordered the massacre of my entire family!"

"Well then, I guess this will serve as a test of your resolve. Like I said, I'll have Chrollo♥ there and have him know that we might find a suitable girl for the job at the Undercave, and he will be watching. So you better show him that you can do the job well enough, otherwise I won't be able to help you at all." Hisoka told him.

A test of his resolve? Well, it seemed Kurapika's resolve was stronger than his personal disgust against the Phantom Troupe. This was something that he had to do. Kurapika gritted his teeth and clenched his hands, speaking in a low voice, "What does he like?" 

"What was that?" Hisoka asked him. Kurapika was sure that he'd heard him, and was just asking him to repeat it to aggravate him further.

"I said what the fuck is Chrollo Lucilfer into?! Just tell me already, so I know how to prepare."

Hisoka giggled, and placed a Joker card over his mouth. "Not women." He said.

At this point, Kurapika lost his temper. "You're looking for women for your mission aren't you? How the hell am I supposed to get him to choose me if he's not even into women?!"

"I don't know, but I'm sure it'll be quite entertaining to watch. So why don't you go and start planning it's only 2♠ days away, after all."

It took everything Kurapika had in him to keep from killing Hisoka right there and then. He really did want to.

"For that intoxicating murderous gaze, I'll give you a hint. Chrollo is attracted to beautiful things♥."

_~Well, his time will come soon. I'll make sure of it. I'm gonna kill him one day. But first he's my best way in. I have to swallow my pride. ~_

With one more glare which the magician seemed to appreciate greatly, Kurapika stormed out of the club. He was sure that he could feel Hisoka's eyes on his back the entire walk to the exit.

  
***

  
The Undercave was an especially dark place in the street of Yorknew City. Girls who were tired of working as prostitutes or whatever it is that they did, came to this place seeking a lavish life in exchange for their freedom. Girls would present themselves in front of the representatives from gangs who came here and they would be sold to them. Usually, the gangs would give these girls to rich men or politicians as mistresses, using them to infiltrate into to rich families. In exchange, the girls would provide information about their targets to the gangs that they worked for. For most of them, it was a good life, being kept by rich men with everything they ever wanted even though their lives belonged to whoever bought them. 

It was not hard to for Kurapika to gain access to this place as one of the merchandise to be sold. All he needed to do was to be pretty enough to be bought. The owner of the Undercave, Mr Tonpa gave him a once over and muttered something like "fetch a good price... pretty but a bit too skinny..." Thus, now Kurapika sat inside the dressing room, getting ready. He was going in last since he was the last to arrive here. Sitting in front of the mirror, he applied his makeup. It was an effortless task for him now, over the years he had gotten used to it to a point that it no longer felt like he was switching to a different person when he was cross dressing as a woman. It just felt like himself too. Today he wore a black crop top, a short red skirt and dark underwear with black fishnets as well. He also chose to put on a small stuffed bra, to boost his chances. On top of everything, he wore a blue and gold glow in the dark dress. 

As soon as the music from the girl ahead of him stopped, he put on black platform heels and got ready to get on stage. He took a deep breath and for some reason, today reminded him of a year ago, after he finished training his body and after he was sure he was strong enough to hold out in a fight against the members of Phantom Troupe and decided to train his other skills.

_A year ago, after he turned sixteen, Kurapika tried walking out of his room at the shelter, sedatives in his pocket._

_"Where do you think you're going dressed like that at this time of the night?" The last person he wanted to see, Leorio, said from the doorway. _

_"I was hoping to slip away without you seeing me." Kurapika said. "I'm just going out."_

_"Going out where? There's no way you're going to start a fight looking like that."_

_"I'm going to the corner of Storm Street." He told him the truth._

_"No fucking way!" Leorio said angrily._

_"Move."_

_"I can't let you do this to yourself. The corner of Storm Street? So, getting it beat to a bloody pulp for years wasn't enough? Now you're gonna sell your body?"_

_ "All those rich men and women bought my family's heirlooms the white diamonds, knowing that they were stolen from them. I'll get everything back from them. I'll be whoever I need to be to do that! I have seen them there, looking for cheap underage prostitutes to play with. They are using young boys and girls who are desperate for money! I will be whoever I need to become to take them down!" Kurapika argued. _

_"Even if it means sleeping with the people you despise? Kurapika! Don't give me that crap! If this is what you wanted, I wouldn't say anything but I can see it in your face... You're scared shitless!" _

_Kurapika looked down. Leorio really could see through him. A part of him wanted to be selfish and choose this life instead, choose to indulge himself and be selfish enough to stay with Leorio and find happiness, but... "What the hell else am I supposed to do? I have to learn to conceal my hatred. If I can't sit and pretend to be happy in front of those bastards who illegally obtained my family heirlooms, there's no way I can be able to infiltrate the Phantom Troupe. I have to conceal it. I need to learn how to use my body, whatever skills to get them to trust me and then when they let their guard down that's when I strike! This is the only way that I'll be able to win! I'm glad that you're concerned for me, but things were always going to end up like this for me." _

_"Kurapika, you're not even happy about this. Do you really think that vengeance will bring you happiness?" Leorio asked blocking the door._

_"My happiness is worth nothing. When I was out there searching for my happiness, to go out and explore the world, I trusted the wrong person and left my family defenceless that night. I don't deserve it, so I don't seek it."_

_"Blaming yourself, hurting yourself, won't bring anyone back." Leorio spoke gently this time._

_Kurapika knew this, but it was hard to forgive himself. His family had been conservative, so him walking around the streets like a prostitute, he was sure they'd be disappointed in him. But he wasn't going to stop now. This was something he had to do, but he was still mentally weak. The fact that he was going to be touched by those people who willingly bought stolen diamonds from his family's killers made him sick to his stomach. To think that those would be the first men or women that he allowed to kiss him made this skin crawl._

_"I'm practically begging you. Why can't you be selfish for once?" Leorio tried to reason with him. _

~Am I allowed to be selfish?~ 

_Kurapika walked towards him, towards the door. "Leorio can you do me a favour? If you agree, I might consider it."_

_"What?"_

~At least for my first kiss...~ 

_"Close your eyes." Kurapika said, getting closer. _

_He placed a hand on Leorio's cheek and then pressed their lips together, catching the other man by surprise. It was his first kiss, so he was sure that he wasn't very good but he just wanted to feel this happy beating of his heart, to never forget the softness of his lips against Leorio's. He wanted more, so he knew that he had to pull away quickly, but Leorio did not let him. Instead, he pulled Kurapika closer and deepened the kiss. It was inebriating, and Kurapika never wanted to let go. He suddenly wished that he had not opened this dangeorous box inside him._

_"H-hey..." Leorio said, dumbfounded when he was finally pushed away. "You... you... If you feel that way..."_

_Kurapika stepped back, away from this dangerous situation._

_"...then there is really no way I can let you go now." Leorio said._

_"Don't think too much of it. I just wanted wanted my first kiss to be with someone I cared about. That's all." Kurapika half lied. "Thank you for giving me this memory, Leorio."_

*

  
Kurapika would need that memory tonight more than ever before. 

It was dark standing behind a curtain, waiting for it to come up. Kurapika braced himself, ten years of struggling finally led to this. He had to grab this chance with both hands to infiltrate the spiders and destroy them from the inside. As soon as the curtain went up, Kurapika picked up three oil soaked wooden torches and lit them. There were cheers and jeers as soon as he made his appearance. The bar was dark, dimly lit, but he was able to approximate that maybe twenty or thirty people were here watching him. The music started and he immediately began to dance, his dress flailing with every movement as if he was on fire. He juggled the three torches without caution, he'd long mastered the art of fire dancing. 

He threw the three torches in different directions, one from under his legs, the other up high into the air and the other onto the side. He ran over and caught the one on the side, jumped into the air and caught the one that it thrown into the air with his other hand. Finally, holding the torches vertically with the unlit side firmly planted on the floor, and the flames sparking next to his face, he stood up side down balancing himself on his hands holding the torches. And caught the last torch with his foot. This caused his dress to come down over his torso, resting dangerously close to the flames as it revealed the short skirt and fishnets he wore underneath. 

  
Everybody was whistling and cheering at this, it was nothing new to Kurapika, as he flipped and stood upright again. Strangely, with so many perverted stares directed at him, he still noticed a pair of eyes that he was sure were already undressing him, golden yellow eyes following his every move. Hisoka was totally hitting on him without having to say a single word. 

_~Creep.~_

Kurapika made sure and not to look at the table where Hisoka sat with two others. Suddenly something caught his eye a few tables from Hisoka because someone sat unbothered by all these jeers and cheers or by Kurapika's dancing. He stood out like a sore thumb in his dark slicked back hair, an inverted cross tattoo on his forehead and a heavy black fur coat on his shoulders. The man sat looking down, a book in his hand, reading it in the dim lighting. Chrollo Lucilfer was mocking him.

Kurapika twirled around in a circle, moving quickly and changing his hands with the torches so fast that if he was second too late it would get him burned. But Chrollo still didn't look up, seeming more interested in whatever it was that he was reading. Why the hell was he here if he wasn't going to pay attention? Kurapika needed his approval to get him into the Phantom Troupe.

_~You're gonna regret that.~_

When next Kurapika threw his torches into the air, he deliberately threw one of them directly at the man bearing St Peter's cross. If he saw it coming, Kurapika would have his attention and if it hit him in the face and burned him, just as well. Even with the torch coming straight at him Lucilfer didn't move an inch. Instead, right when the torch was close to his face, he grabbed it without even looking, and finally his eyes snapped up to Kurapika as he blew out the fire.

Having Chrollo's attenton reminded him of that day, and he was eager to get it out of his head. The music picked up pace and Kurapika went with the flow, spining the flames in his hands faster than ever much to the delight of his spectators. He threw off the dress, and remained in just the skirt, top and fishnets. He walked over to the pole on the side of the stage, holding a single torch. In a single sensual movement, he raised his leg and slid it up along the pole, the fishnets dulling some of the metal's coldness. He locked eyes with the spider head, and raised the torch so that it illuminated his face, specifically his eyes. Kurapika winked.

Immediately Chrollo stood up so quickly that he pushed away both the table in front of him and his chair. His gaze was fixed intensely on Kurapika and he raised his hand and signalled out to Tonpa to turn off the music, and he complied.

  
"Hey what's the big idea? We wanna see more!" Someone said from the back. 

  
There were various shouts and murmurs from the pissed off crowd as Kurapika stopped dancing, wondering if he'd been caught. It would be terrible if he'd been discovered because he was so scantily dressed he wasn't carrying a weapon with him. If a fight broke out, he'd have to use his bare hands. He was pretty damn sure he wouldn't be able to win against Chrollo Lucilfer into hand to hand combat. But what the head of the spider said next, took him aback. 

  
"Leave us." 

  
Chrollo's voice was still smooth but it had gotten deeper than when he'd last heard it. Even though the words were spoken softly, they rang authoratively across the bar. 

  
"Don't try to boss us around, we are buying the girl. Back off." Someone said. 

  
"Yeah don't act like you own the damn place, you Meteor city trash!"

  
"Fuck off, you leave us!"

  
Chrollo's facial expression barely changed. "Phinks, Feitan, Hisoka. Get rid of them. I want to be alone with the dancer."

  
Even though it was dark, Kurapika saw the three named men stand up. Before the security guards of the Undercave got to them, they had already began to work. Sounds of fighting, of screams, echoed throughout the room, and in all that time, Chrollo never took his eyes off Kurapika. In about a minute, there was silence as the bar's security dragged out the bodies of the gangsters that the three spiders killed. Standing still in the dark, Kurapika could barely keep still because he was shaking so much.

  
_~Why?~_

  
Why was there a need for so much violence? Sure, all those people are good for nothing representatives sent from some mafia family, but what reason was there for them to get killed? Just for voicing their opinion which differed from the head spider's?

  
When it was just Chrollo, Kurapika and a terrified Tonpa left in the bar, Chrollo spoke. "Turn the music back on, and get out."

  
Tonpa did as he was told and ran out.

  
Mortified as he was about this entire ordeal, Kurapika stood still because he was unsure what this man who was still watching him, making him shiver uncomfortably, wanted from him. Chrollo walked up towards the stage and took a seat by the very first table right in front of him. What was the need for this? Why had Chrollo had everybody else leave save for the two of them?

"Well, what are you waiting for? Continue." Chrollo said.

  
"What for? All the people who might have bought me were killed by your men. Unless you want to buy me yourself, I'm out of here." Kurapika told him.

  
"Continue. Don't make me repeat myself again." The reply was short and curt as expected. 

  
But Kurapika was stubborn, and unwilling to be controlled. "Give me a reason."

  
"You wanted my attention did you not? That's why you threw a prop at me. Well, you have it, my full undivided attention." 

  
"Don't flatter yourself, Mr Lucilfer. You're the one who sought my attention by playing hard to get during my performance where everyone else was enamoured with me." At this stage Kurapika knew that he shouldn't push his luck too much.

  
Seemingly unintentionally, a smile appeared on Chrollo's face at Kurapika's words, "What is your name?" He asked.

  
"Kurapika." He gave him the name he'd denied him years before.

  
"That's a mouthful." Chrollo raised his eyebrows, "I'll just call you Pika."

  
"As the rumours say, you always do as you please, don't you? Anyway I don't have any reason to continue dancing for you, just tell me if you'll buy me or not." 

  
"I like looking at beautiful things, so, it's up to you to convince me. And your seduction technique is key for our next job. I want to see if you are good enough for the job that we want to hire you for. So go ahead, Pika, seduce me." Chrollo sat expectantly with his hands on his sides and his legs crossed.

  
_~You've got to be fucking kidding me. This obnoxious asshole wants me to seduce him?~_

Very well, if this man wanted to be enticed, he would be drawn into the web of his own death.

"Fine, but don't expect me to relieve you afterwards."

"You're awfully confident in your skills, you better not be all talk." Chrollo gestured with a single finger for Kurapika to come forward. 

This time Kurapika did not bother with the torches. He knew what he had to do, having worked at a gay strip club a few months ago to get the attention of a politician who had a pair of white diamonds in his possession. He had learned to abandon all person feelings towards his clients, to suppress the hate and focus only on the performance, that way, he would not be disgusted by their groping touches.

Those dark gray eyes watched hungrily, as Kurapika jumped onto the pole. He was swaying his hips as if he was on a swing, only to curl his legs around the pole again, then sliding down and grinding his crotch against it... but only a little, the small skirt would not be able to hide it if he got hard. That wouldn't do, he was pretending to be a woman after all.

His eyes hidden behind blue contacts, glanced over at his guest, and he walked down from the stage, slowly swaying his hips again, dancing to the long ended song. His long blonde wig moving with every dance on his way to his only spectator whose eyes followed him the entire distance, until Kurapika sat, legs spread, on the table in front of him.

Feeling daring, Kurapika raised his leg, and pressed the heel against Chrollo's crotch. Chrollo bit his lip slightly uncrossing his legs, and when he couldn't take the teasing anymore, he reached out and pulled Kurapika down from the table onto him. This was further than the blond had been willing to go tonight, but he was a man on a mission, and knew from experience to always go with what the client wanted. So he sat on Chrollo's lap, legs on either side of him.

He pushed Chrollo's coat off his shoulders, leaving only a thin vest and a cross necklace hanging from his neck. Kurapika's teasing hands snaked their way inside the vest, skin to skin, more intimately than he had intended, almost too caught up in the mood to remember his boundaries. He went down further, hands sliding along the thighs hidden under leather pants, slowly, and if Chrollo's heartbeat was anything to go by, torturously. The older man's hands grabbed on to Kurapika's waist, pulling him closer, holding onto him.

Eyes locked together as Kurapika inched even closer to the devil whose blazing gaze seemed unable to tear itself from the one in front of him. The blond leaned closer, breaking eye contact, their lips so dangerously close to each other that he could feel Chrollo's haggered breath on his neck which sent unwelcome chills down his body. Instead of a kiss, however, Kurapika turned his face, and licked the edge of the other's ear. Being this close, Kurapika felt, rather than saw the jolt that pierced through Chrollo's body at the unexpected touch. He pulled back to look at Chrollo's face, knowing that it was over, he had him completely smitten.

It was a strange feeling, Kurapika had the leader of the most dangerous gang in the city wrapped around his thumb in this moment, trapped within his own desire for the boy who sought his life. A deep yearning for the body teasing him so was reflected in Chrollo's eyes and without meaning to, he gave a deep, longing gasp when Kurapika's rebellious hand lightly brushed against his groin.

Kurapika wanted to retract that hand sharply, sure, he had been able to use his body to arouse many people he despised, but this was fucking Chrollo Lucilfer, the man who took everything from him. The man he hated with every fibre of his being. If he wanted Kurapika's body so much, it made him want to snatch it right out of his grip, take it as far out of Chrollo's reach as possible. Before he could get away however, Chrollo's grip on him tightened, before he let go of him with one hand. Chrollo's hand found its way onto his cheek and he looked into his eyes with overwhelming intensity.

"_Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?_

_Thou art more lovely and more temperate_," Chrollo said. 

No one had ever looked at Kurapika like that before. No, that was wrong, ten years ago, Chrollo had spared that intense gaze for him too. He couldn't comprehend it then, but he did now. This look made him falter, and against his wishes he felt his heart flutter because this man, no this devil, was looking at him like-

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes upon." Chrollo breathed, but Kurapika was finding it hard to do so. "Except your eyes, yours are the second most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

More to regain his senses than out of curiosity, Kurapika asked, "Who's number one?"

"A boy who refused to give me his name. Your eyes are similar to his, but inferior. But at least, your eyes are mine to look at and admire as I see fit, Pika."

_~Wait, does he mean me?~_

"You... are good at what you do." Chrollo admitted, his voice was only a breath among the heavy ones heaving his chest up and down.

Of course he was good, he had practice. He would not have been able to this if not for all the times he'd let strangers touch his body and found out what worked and what didn't.

"I know."

"You're not really a girl, are you?" Chrollo asked. 

"I am whoever you need me to be. Does my gender matter?"

"No, I suppose not, as long as you do your job efficiently." Chrollo told him. "You might not want to tell the other limbs of the spider yet, though."

"Does this mean I'm hired? Am I part of the Phantom Troupe now?" Kurapika asked. 

"It means you work for the Phantom Troupe."

"What do I have to do to climb higher up the ladder?" Kurapika whispered, hand sliding straight up Chrollo's chest. "Sleep with the boss?"

The hand holding his bare waist tightened, and goosebumps ran up Kurapika's skin so freely that he had to remind himself who was touching him. "I would not be opposed to that."

His mission accomplished, Kurapika pressed his finger against the tattoo on the man's forhead and pushed him back. He stood up and stepped away from Chrollo feeling the heat leave his skin as the hands holding him let go.

"If you want to get me in bed, _you'll_ have to seduce me." He told Chrollo. 

Kurapika felt the dark gray eyes watching him as he picked up his dress and walked out of the bar. He was in, and was ready to throw himself into the fire to get his revenge on his enemies. But first, he needed to take a long shower to wash off the filthy murderer's touch from his body.


	3. Change of Plans

  
The Kurta estate was nothing more than a bunch of ruins that people said were cursed by the red diamonds that they sold at high prices. Kurapika never believed those rumours of course, but he still wore the broken red diamond on his neck as a symbol of the curse. White diamonds were important to the Kurta family despite their rarity and expense. They were a symbol of purity, passed on to the males to give to the person that they wanted to marry, from generation to generation. Now Kurapika looked at the 24 pairs of white diamonds in his possession, that he kept locked inside a big cupboard inside his caravan. Since leaving Palm's shelter last year, the caravan was where he lived now, parked in his dead family's estate, and day by day, he spoke with their ghosts as they haunted him, especially Pairo's. 

These 24 pairs of white diamonds were the ones that he had obtained by lying, stealing, cheating , assaulting others and from selling his body. Since the Phantom Troupe had wanted to increase the value of white diamonds by making them rare, they had bathed them in the blood of the Kurta creating more red diamond, leaving only 36 pairs of white diamonds in the world. According to word on the streets, there were going to be a few pairs sold at an underground auction that only the top Mafia had access to. Therefore, by working for the Phantom Troupe, Kurapika was killing two birds, (thirteen spiders) with one stone. It wouldn't be long now, Kurapika would have the eight remaining ones in no time at all, and then after that, after he got his revenge... then what?

He would think about that when he was done.

His phone ringing snapped him back to reality. It was Leorio again. How many missed calls was it now, thirty, forty? Kurapika had lost count. He knew it was only a matter of time before Leorio asked Gon to call him instead, Gon was a thousand times more persistent than Leorio. Still Kurapika was determined to ignore the calls, his friends would not like what he was doing one bit. This was something that he had to do by himself.

Kurapika took one more glance around the caravan as he finished packing his clothes and weapons, at the back of the caravan, next to his sleeping bag, hung the chain that he had made with the metal from his broken home, complete with sharp nails around the chain. On the cupboard next to the one with the diamonds, were bottles of powdered sedatives, hypnotics and muscle relaxants that he used on his 'clients' before things heated up. He also had some intravenous solutions of those products as well that also included tranquilisers. He had a bunch of them in his bag as well that he was taking to the meeting place with the Phantom Troupe. 

Before he left, he checked that his website was still up and receiving requests from his laptop. He had a hacker that he had worked with in the past, he'd tried to learn it to do it himself but it was too complicated for him. Instead, in exchange for dealing with a small gang that was after the hacker, he had created this website for Kurapika. He looked back one more time at this place before locking it, and leaving. He would be back here again when it was time to kill a spider.

*

The meeting place was in an abandoned area of the city, at an old beat up apartment building. There were two other women there, along with four men and a woman that Kurapika knew were actually members of the Phantom Troupe. One of them was Uvogin, the man who killed Pairo right in front of his eyes. Kurapika had thought that it was hard to control his anger against Hisoka because the guy kept passing him off, but Uvo was another matter entirely. Flashes of that day, of the despair he felt, the helplessness in his heart as he watched this man kill his best friend, all threatened to overcome Kurapika with sheer force. He could do it right now, take out his bokken, catch the murderer by surprise and avenge his friend. 

Kurapika had both feet forward when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Stop." One of the women said, looking up at him. He looked down at the stocky young lady. Her large eyes were eyeing him reproachfully from under her hat.

"Let me go." He warned.

"I don't know what you have against him, but your aura terrifies me. You seem ready to kill, regardless of the consequences." She said in a low voice. 

"If you are aware of that much, you ought to let me go." Kurapika said to her again.

"You are here for a reason are you not? Is killing him more important to you than whatever it is you seek?" The woman asked.

_~ The white diamonds ~_

Kurapika took a deep breath to calm himself down. That's right, he should wait until after the auction to start taking out the members of the Phantom Troupe.

"All right, everyone is here, let's start. I'm Phinks, that's Nobunaga, Uvo, Shalnark and Paku. I'm sure you girls know who we are if you're here. Introduce yourselves." Phinks said gathering the three of them together. 

"I'm Melody." The short young lady said.

"Kurapika."

"I'm Baise, nice to meet you." The other woman in the room said. She was a beautiful woman with large curves, and she was not shy in displaying her cleavage. Her dark brown hair was twisted into a long braid as well.

"Alright, you all know what special skills we brought you in for, however-"

"Hold on, Phinks, I know the short girl is the musician, so does that mean that the skinny bitch is also going to be working on Nostrade? That can't be, who's gonna fall for that?" Uvo asked. 

_~Skinny bitch?~_

Kurapika, of course, took offence to that statement, and he could feel Melody eyeing him cautiously, as though wondering if he was going to attack Uvo after all. But he gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Well, Danchou chose her himself, so don't complain Uvo." Nobunaga chided him.

But Uvo snorted, "Come on, Danchou doesn't have any interest in women, it's possible that he didn't realise what exactly it is in a woman that turns a man on." He said. "Look at her, Baise was it, now there's a woman worth some gold."

"Actually, Danchou was pretty interested in that one, Kurapika." Phinks told him. "I mean he actually paid for her."

Paku, Shalnark, Nobunaga and Uvo all looked at him in astonishment.

"Danchou _paid money_ for something? For that woman?" Paku asked, frowning as she looked at Kurapika who was glaring daggers at Uvo.

"But she's so thin, and flat chested!" Uvo protested.

"Well, she's not for you, now, is she Uvo?" Shalnark pointed out.

"Anyway, as Phinks was saying," Paku said. "We hired you because of your special skills, however, we need to know if you can hold your own in a fight, we won't support deadweight. You need to show us that you are qualified to work for us. Think of it as your final trial before we tell you our plans."

Kurapika rolled his eyes in annoyance, well it had seemed too easy to just enter the Troupe like this. "What is it that you want us to do?"

_~If they ask me to kill someone, I'm drawing the line.~_

"Well, we are a band of thieves, so we'll have you steal something." Shalnark said with a smile.

"And who exactly are we supposed to steal from?" Baise asked.

Uvo grinned, "Us."

"What?" Baise asked.

"To test your skills, we'll have you steal something from any of the thirteen members of the Phantom Troupe. It can be anything, as long as it is something that they will be sure to miss. We will meet here again at 5PM tomorrow, and you should bring the item here." Phinks explained.

"So we are free to use any methods we want to obtain your possessions?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, fight if you have to, if you can kill... You're free to do that as well." Nobunaga said. 

"Let me guess, the Phantom Troupe knows that were coming, don't they?" Kurapika asked. 

"Of course, they are all waiting for you to try and steal from them, so I suppose it makes your mission that much harder." Paku answered him.

"What happens if we can't succeed?" Baise asked.

"Then you're deadweight, so you die." Uvo grinned. "And besides, most of us live in this building, so you've seen our base. If you don't meet our standards, we can't let you live."

That much was obvious to Kurapika, he already had someone in mind that he knew he was gonna steal from. It would be the ultimate power move if he could steal from Chrollo himself, and thus he would strive for that.

*

Beclate Hotel, this was where Chrollo Lucilfer lived. He lived comfortably in the penthouse above the hotel. This was one of the most expensive hotels in Yorknew City, and Kurapika had only been here once, escorting a particularly rich client. Nobody questioned the people who came to this place, but Kurapika still carried the old key card, just in case someone stopped him and also because he was going to use it to break into Chrollo's room. He had been lurking outside the hotel since last night, after the meeting with the spiders, watching. Chrollo Lucilfer had not walked out of the hotel yesterday, and Kurapika had wondered if he would have to try and rob him while he slept. However, late this morning, Chrollo had stepped out of the hotel, granting Kurapika his chance.

Today, Kurapika was dressed less like a call girl and more like a professional office lady in a woman's pantsuit. He'd ditched the blonde wig for now, opting to tie his own hair back instead. He carried a knock off handbag barely distinguishable from the original, and like this, he fit with the hotel's clientele. Inside his handbag were the tools for the break in, as well as his bokken but only as a precaution. He had sat and watched the hotel until he saw Chrollo Lucilfer leave, over an hour ago, and he was still not back.

He got into the lift, alone, and pressed 'P'. A card was required of course, but that was no problem for Kurapika. This was a universal card that he had swiped from the hotel manager when he had been trying to get into contact with his client. Kurapika's phone rang just as he took out the card. He expected it to be Leorio again, but to his surprise, the name reflected on his screen was Hisoka's.

Sighing, (when had Hisoka put in his number here?) Kurapika answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Kura-chan♥, how are you?" Hisoka asked.

"What do you want, I'm busy." Kurapika told him.

"Oww, don't be so mean♣, I just called because I missed you~" He was sure Hisoka was smiling.

"I'm hanging up."

"Wait, don't be so hasty, I wanna do a favour for you. Shall I let you steal something from me?" He asked.

"I don't want to owe you any more than I already do." Kurapika said frowning, "Anyway, I already have it taken care of."

"Oh? You've already managed to beguile another spider besides me? I'm hurt♦."

Kurapika rolled his eyes, "It's nothing like that. I already chose my target. It's Chrollo Lucilfer." He informed him.

A stunned silence followed, that lasted for ten seconds, "You're gonna steal from the boss? You must not value your life." Hisoka said.

"Whatever, I'll get it done." He replied. "I have to go, now goodbye." He ended the call. 

Kurapika inserted the card onto the slot, hoping that the hotel's security had not discovered the breach. The lift started going up, so that was a good sign at least. The lift stopped on the top floor, and Kurapika got out, checking the coast. It was clear. The door to the inside of the penthouse was also equipped with a security pin code lock. Kurapika set his bag down and removed the blue fluorescent dye that he had with him, and used it on the lock to dust for prints. The five numbers on which the prints appeared the most were 13579, and he was sure this place operated on a six digit pin, which meant that one of the numbers was repeated twice. 

He had to stop to think for a minute, even though it seemed obvious from the way the numbers were arranged on the keypad, 5 had to be the repeated number. But what if it was a trap, and he wasted his time on possible combinations including 5? There were 999999 + 1 combinations he could make from six numbers, slightly lowered by the fact that one of the numbers was repeated, he only had 3 tries before the alarm went off. In order to figure it out, he had to pick the simplest most obvious combination, after all, Chrollo Lucilfer would not have boosted up his security thinking that no one would dare to try and break into his house.

So, 135579. The most obvious combination was the x made by the numbers on the keypad, so what was the combination? What was the order, going from the most likely combination starting at the top, 159357, followed by 159753, then 357951 or 357159. According to his analysis, those were the most likely combinations, four of them, with only three tries. Kurapika took a deep breath, and put in the first one. It failed. His hands shook as he punched in the second code, and he stood still while it loaded.

The door unlocked.

Kurapika heaved a sigh of relief as he stepped into the penthouse. Immediately he was struck by the quality of the furniture and decorations in this place. The place was neat, sparkling clean, without a speck of dust to be seen anywhere in the kitchen and the living room. The walls were a dark shade of walnut, the kitchen tiles cream in colour, while a handmade brown rug covered the living room floor. A red antique couch sat opposite the large flat screen TV, blending surprisingly well with the abundant brown that Kurapika was starting to suspect might be Chrollo's favourite colour.

There were no personal photographs anywhere on the walls, instead, the only decorations were strangely alluring famed paintings. Even the vases around the room, Kurapika was sure we're expensive art pieces. There was an antique, wooden piano in the living room as well, next to the fireplace, Kurapika wondered if Chrollo played it. There was a terrace on the other side too. Chrollo seemed to be living a luxurious life amidst stolen items that beautified his house. There was plenty to steal here, but Kurapika decided to check out the bedroom first.

There was a giant, well made, King sized bed in the center of the room, but that is not what captured Kurapika's attention first. No, it was the massive bookcase that lined the entire front wall from the floor to the ceiling. The bookcase was wooden, the brown of it giving life to the bare walls, giving a slightly rustic feel to the modern room, volumes upon volumes of books, rare paperbacks, antiques and classic books could be seen somewhere along the neatly packed shelves.

Immediately, Kurapika could tell that Chrollo was an avid reader, who loved literature dearly. There was a moveable ladder to allow someone to reach any shelf he desired. On the other wall, were more paintings hanging there, along with a desk and chair, with books neatly set on the desk. A little further from the desk was a blank canvas sitted on a wooden easel, and there were various paintbrushes on the stand.

This room told Kurapika a lot more about Chrollo than he wanted to know.

He looked back at the books, deciding to steal one and get out. He chose a familiar book, his own book, Dino Hunter, that Chrollo had stolen from his house ten years ago. He could not believe that he still had the book. This was not stealing, he was taking back the book that Pairo had given him.

Suddenly, from behind Kurapika, a door opened, and he turned sharply to see someone coming out of the bathroom.

Chrollo Lucilfer. 

He was only wearing long black pants and a towel on his head. A look of surprise dawned on his face for a second as he saw Kurapika there. He was shirtless, clearly just gotten out of the shower. His hair was down, like the first time they'd met, and if not for the tattoo on his forehead, Kurapika might have mistook him for someone else because of how different he looked. Kurapika's eyes dropped to Chrollo's bare torso. There was a small scar from a bullet wound on his shoulder. As for the chest down, Kurapika'd felt it under the vest at the club, but looking at the toned, sharply defined shape of his muscles was another matter entirely. Kurapika had seen many men shirtless, and there were very few that he would actively call hot, but Chrollo, he had a body that exceeded anything that Kurapika had seen.

"See something you like?" Chrollo smirked.

  
_~Wait a second. Chrollo Lucilfer is here. Right now. Shit! I've been caught. ~_

  
He'd been too distracted by the body that he'd failed to grasp the situation that he was in.

"I uh..."

"What are you doing here? Did you come to take me up on my offer? The bed is right there." Chrollo said, drying his hair without a care in the world.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. That's not it at all." Kurapika denied.

"I could have sworn you were drooling over me a second ago. So, if you're not here to give your body to me, then why? I'm sure I locked the door." Chrollo asked. When Kurapika did not answer, he seemed to think for a moment. "Ah! The challenge. Don't tell me, you were actually trying to steal from _me_?"

Kurapika had two options,admit it, and run or admit it and deal with whatever punishment the spider head had in mind for him.

"Yes."

"I don't know if you're brave or just stupidly reckless."

"Well, looks like I got caught. Oh, well, I'll leave you to get dressed." Kurapika picked up his handbag and made to back away slowly.

"Stop right there." Chrollo demanded. "I can't stand it when people try to take things from me."

"That's a bit rich coming from someone whose entire life revolves around stealing from others." Kurapika could not help but snap.

"My life does not revolve around stealing, I do that for work. How did you crack my pin code? Never mind, I suppose that isn't important. Why did you choose now of all times to come here?"

"I thought you were not home, I saw you go out." He said. 

"I have my own private entrance. I used that to get back in." Chrollo told him. "Now, as for your punishment, what shall it be, I wonder?" 

"You're not gonna try to kill me?" 

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

  
_~That's not true, you did try to kill me before, but I survived. ~_

"I shall use this as a learning opportunity for you." Chrollo said, putting on a short sleeved shirt (_~ finally ~_). "Say I sent you to steal from someone, you thought they were out, but it turns out that they are home. Now you've been caught, what do you do?"

The correct answer would be to try and distract him.

"I'd do this." Kurapika put on a flirtatious smile, "You're here, I was planning to surprise you tonight... with myself," he said in as cute a voice as he could muster.

"Ding. Wrong." Chrollo said. "I can tell you don't mean it, you have none of the desperation that your eyes held the other night, your technique is just... bland. I can tell you have no desire to get in bed with me."

"Wow, you're a sharp one." Kurapika said sarcastically. "In that case, I'd have no choice but to fight."

Chrollo smiled, "Come."

Kurapika rolled the sleeves of his jacket and wasted no time attacking Chrollo. He threw a kick at his gut followed by a straight punch to the face. Chrollo dodged them easily.

"Karate? You have a good form." He complimented.

"You're mocking me." Kurapika said, angrily spinning around attempting to lock Chrollo down with his arms, but the latter grabbed his arm instead, and twisted his around so that Kurapika was the one who couldn't move well.

"You're not bad at all, but, Ding. One move from me and you're dead." Chrollo said.

_~This can't be. The gap between our strength can't be this big!~_

Kurapika went for a back kick, and in dodging it, Chrollo loosened his hold on him so that he was able to free his arm.

He stepped back, thinking, strategising. He would feint a tackle, and instead go for a punch, if Chrollo blocked that, he would leave his legs defenceless, then Kurapika could trip him up, and pin him to the ground. This strategy rested on Chrollo's physical strength not being that much higher than Kurapika's. 

Kurapika set his plan in motion, and as expected, Chrollo blocked his punch, however, his reflexes were too good to allow both legs to be pinned down, and instead, he sacrificed one to keep the other up. Even though one leg was injured, Chrollo was able to use the other for balance and thus he was able to throw Kurapika down on the floor.

"Good plan, too bad I reacted quicker than you anticipated."

  
_~What did I train ten years for? To be humiliated like this? To have my strength mocked?~_

  
He could try to fight with his weapon, but Kurapika did not want to show all his cards already. It was better this way, anyway, and part of him suspected that Chrollo would not arm himself, even if Kurapika fought with a weapon. That would be the ultimate mockery.

"I yield." He muttered. 

"You're strong, your basics are good, and I think you're smart too." Chrollo said, lending his hand to help him up. "If you fought me seriously, I daresay you'd be as a good as any of the limbs of the spider."

This was not a compliment he wanted from someone who'd just destroyed him in a fight. "If you fought me seriously I'd be dead." He pointed out.

It sucked to admit it, but this little mock battle had shown Kurapika that he had underestimated Chrollo's fighting skills, he was out of his depth, and had to make a change in his plans.

"I suppose," Chrollo muttered, watching, in fascination, as Kurapika sat down on his bed, and wiped the sweat on his forehead, and untying his hair, sighing as he shook his hair loose.

Kurapika looked up, finally noticing the intense gaze from this man, and he blinked. "What?"

"Nothing. I like your hair like this." He said, reaching out, and running his hands along the soft strands.

Kurapika sighed, crossed his legs, and looked at him. "You can look at me like that all you want, but, I'm still not gonna sleep with you."

"Why not? Your eyes were all over me earlier. I know that I'm attractive, so it's not that, surely." Chrollo mused thoughtfully.

"You're pretty cocky." Kurapika muttered. "You may not believe this since I used to be a stripper, and I worked in the streets seducing people for a living, but my family was pretty conservative, I can't just sleep with you just because you desire my body, or think it's beautiful. I can't sleep with anyone if I can't see a future with them."

"What makes you think that you can't have a future with me, Pika?"

Chrollo said it with a serious face, so it took Kurapika a few seconds to process that thought, "Look, I don't have time to be your fuck buddy or whatever. I'm on a mission, and there are things I need to do. No distractions." Kurapika told him. "If you wanted a relationship with me, you'd have to get to know me, and neither of us is up for that kind of commitment, so give it up."

"I'm not opposed to it. Getting to know you, I mean. I want you, and I will have you, no matter what I have to do." Chrollo said. 

Without his permission, Kurapika felt warmth in his heart, this was the first time that anyone had stated so plainly that they wanted him. But this man was the devil, he came with enticing words and destroyed entire kingdoms, Kurapika must remember his hatred and bring it to the surface, use it as a charm to ward of the evil tempting words of this thief.

"You're a thief, aren't you? You're obviously stronger than me. Don't you always take whatever you want?" He said it cruelly.

"Not this, never this. When I steal your body and take it for my own, it shall be when you beg me to." Chrollo said confidently. 

"So, even a murderer like you is above rape. There's hope for you yet." Kurapika said with a slight smile.

"There would be, if I was looking for salvation. But I'm not." Chrollo responded, standing up. "I only wish to indulge in beautiful paintings, beautiful art, beautiful jewellery, beautiful literature and beautiful Pika."

"Danchou," Kurapika asked quietly. "What would you be willing to do to have me?"

"What will you have me do?"

Kurapika picked up his bag, and also stood up. "I'll think about it." He said, walking away.

"Only if you make it through today alive." Chrollo said to his back.

He was right, there was not much time left until the meeting with the other spiders. Kurapika had no time to try and steal from anyone else, he was doomed.

*

In his distress and anxious mind, Kurapika's feet had led him back here, to the hideout of the Phantom Troupe. Why was he here? It was almost 5PM, and he had not managed to steal anything, wasting his time on Chrollo Lucilfer, and he was sure they would try to kill him. He had his weapon with him, so he would try to take out Uvo at least, before he died. The other two women were already there, and Melody smiled at him when he entered. Baise looked pretty smug too, so he was sure that he was the only one who failed his task.

They waited there for a few minutes before the members of the Phantom Troupe started arriving. Most of them descended from the upper floors of the apartment building while others arrived from outside, including Chrollo Lucilfer himself. When twelve of them were gathered in front, Chrollo checked the time, then said, looking at the door, "You're late, Hisoka."

"Fashionably so." Hisoka's voice said, and Kurapika felt a hand on his ass, and looked up to glare at the magician, who winked before making his way to the front.

_~The nerve of this guy~_

"Now that we are all here, let us see what our new recruits have to show us, since they are all here, I would assume that they succeeded in their work." Chrollo said. 

Melody went up first, she pulled out a gun from her violin case.

"I've been looking all over for that." Paku said, accepting her gun back.

"How did she manage to steal from you, Paku?" Shizuku asked with interest.

"I was tired last night, she must have played a song to put me to sleep." Paku shrugged.

"You pass." Chrollo said to Melody, and she bowed in gratitude. 

With a sly smile on her face, Baise reached down into her bra, and pulled out a pair of men's underwear.

"Oops, that's mine!" Uvo laughed, hurriedly taking them from her.

"Well, we don't have to ask how you lost them, do we Uvo?" Nobunaga asked knowingly. 

"Shut up, I was caught off guard." Uvo defended himself, "She got me drunk."

"I don't believe you were _that_ drunk." Baise said.

"Okay, you pass as well. Now, for the last one." Chrollo's eyes drifted to Kurapika for the first time since his arrival. 

Kurapika took a deep breath, and prepared for the fallout, looking at it now, he saw that there was no way he could reach Uvo unscathed. What should he do?

"Did you fail?" Chrollo asked again.

_~ You know I did. ~_

"Umm," Hisoka spoke, "Since the pretty lady's visit to my club last night, I seem to have misplaced my favourite Joker card♥."

Everyone turned their attention to him, and Kurapika frowned. He hadn't been to see Hisoka last night, so what did he.... Kurapika blinked, and reached into the back pocket of his pantsuit, where he'd felt Hisoka's hand on his butt earlier. Sure enough, there was a card there, and he removed it.

"Oh, there it is."

"How did this happen? You're not the type to let your guard down easily." Machi questioned.

Hisoka giggled, "I was distracted, it seems like I am powerless against our pretty little Kura-chan♥'s charms, I have the strong urge to make her mine."

A dark frown clouded Chrollo's calm and composed face at Hisoka's words. It was brief, and fleeting, if Kurapika had not been looking at Chrollo, he would surely have missed it because Chrollo immediately reverted back to his apathetic resting face.

_~Interesting.~_

"You pass too. It seems we have a promising number of candidates this time." Chrollo said, and he started addressing everyone. "The auction is in two weeks, we will start making our move tomorrow. You three, are going to partake in the auction as part of the Nostrade family. But first, Paku should let you know about us, how you'll be reporting to us."

"There are three teams within the Phantom Troupe; the main combatants, Uvo, Nobunaga, Bon, Frank, and Phinks. The recon or intelligence gathering team, Feitan, Shal and I. Finally our cleanup crew, Machi, Hisoka, Shizuku, and Kortopi. " Paku explained. "You three will be working directly under me, however, if needs be, you may directly contact one of the combatants. If you mess up, let the cleanup crew know immediately. Do you understand?"

Kurapika hadn't thought the spiders to be so well organised, in his head, he had always pictured a rowdy bunch of disorganised criminals. He didn't like this new development. He wasn't here to learn more about them, just to destroy them.

"At any rate, our three newest recruits, you will respond to the job advertisments set by the Nostrade family, you must act like you do not know each other. As for your tasks, Melody, you are to pose as the music tutor for Light Nostrade's daughter, watch her carefully and report to Paku. Baise, you will pose as one of the guards, I want you to report any and all rumours from the other bodyguards regarding the auction. Get close to them, and get us that information. Finally, Pika," Chrollo turned to him, "You have already been called for an interview tomorrow, Shal created a satisfactory identity for you, so you will be going for the position of Security consultant. Your target is Light Nostrade, he should not breathe without you knowing it, don't let him out of your sight. You should know all the security details and relay them to us. Use whatever means necessary to achieve your goal."

_~Whatever means necessary? You mean seduce him or sleep with him if I must. Well, this is the type of stuff I'm good at after all.~_

"Okay, now that that is done, we shall lay out the plan. Jewels, art, games, all these things will be for sale at the great auction. All the Mafia families are involved, and this is how they make money. The ten Dons have everything set, and security will be tight to keep us plunderers out. Therefore, our goal this auction is to take _everything_ that is being sold." Chrollo said. 

_~ Typical, he wants everything, and thinks it is his right to have it, even though he did not work for it. ~_

"This heist is not our ultimate goal, of course, we just need to make enough money from this, so we get access to the Kakin Royal ship which will pass over these waters in a couple of months. What we will steal from there, will be enough for those of you who want to retire, to do so comfortably." Chrollo concluded. 

"What are you saying Danchou? Why would anyone retire, this life is fun!" Uvo interjected. 

"For you." Feitan said.

"Oh please, I know how much you enjoy torturing people for information. " Uvo shot back.

"So?"

"What do you mean, I'm pointing out that you probably won't wanna give it up either."

"So?"

"- oh forget it. You won't dampen my mood. Hey, Nobunaga, let's compete to see who will kill more people in this auction." Uvo asked.

"I don't know if I can compete with your thirst for blood." Nobunaga reasoned.

This was more like the Phantom Troupe that Kurapika had imagined. Thieves and murderers with no regard for human lives.

"If there are no more questions, you are all dismissed."

*

It seemed like Kurapika was always equipped with a heavy heart whenever he went to Heaven's Club. Tonight, however, the bartender only gave him one look, before bowing and letting him into the VIP area. Kurapika slumped down on the chair, looking up. Today had not gone as planned at all, he'd tested a bit of his strength against Chrollo Lucilfer and had found himself to be vastly outmatched. It made him angry and miserable. He would have to resort to drugging the head spider in order to make it an even match. Even then, he was still doubtful about his chances to win.

_~ That won't do, I need to be 100% sure of my victory to make this work. I need a weapon that he can't defend against. ~_

The thought was there at the back of his mind. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of it before, but right now, it seemed to be his only option. He couldn't think about this while sober. There were various drinks on the table and a few more inside the mini fridge. He grabbed a bottle of wine and, as he was pouring it into the glass, the door opened and Hisoka came in. 

"You aren't old enough to be drinking that." He said picking up the glass for himself.

Kurapika snorted, "I'll be eighteen in a few months. Anyway what kind of law says I'm old enough to have sex but not drink? I've had a crappy day, so I think I deserve this." He said, pouring another glass for himself.

"Do tell♦." Hisoka asked interestedly, sitting across from him.

Kurapika took a sip of the wine, and said, "Thanks for today, you saved my ass... again. You didn't have to, you know. Against my better judgement, it seems like I keep owing you."

"Hmm~ I didn't do it for you, I just like having you owe me♥. I can't wait to collect on all those favours in some unsightly way in the future." He smiled, "I just can't stop imagining the things I could make you do♣...ahh, my imagination is running wild now, Kura-chan!"

"Gee, I can't wait." Kurapika said sarcastically, trying not to think of all the gruesome things he'd have to do for Hisoka in the future. Well, he would just have to kill him before he collected on all those favours.

"So, what happened between you and Chrollo when you tried to steal from him? I thought you'd be dead, but he couldn't keep his eyes off you at the meeting, and I thought he might kill me for expressing interest in you. And yet, you looked pissed. Tell me everything♦." Hisoka inquired, leaning his face on his hands in curiosity. 

Downing everything that was left in his glass, Kurapika looked down, "What happened? I had a reality check. Lucil- I should get used to calling him Danchou, I guess- Danchou and I fought in his apartment, and it didn't go the way that I wanted. That's all."

"Oh I see, Chrollo ♥ kicked your ass did he?" Hisoka smiled. "Oooooooh, I wish I could have seen it... So, what will you do now?"

"Hisoka, I've made a decision. I was too naive, but I see the bigger picture now. I'm gonna make a change of plans. I've thought of a way to hurt him just as much as he hurt me, to break his heart just as mine did when I lost everything."

Hisoka gave an interested giggle, "And what, pray tell, will you do, Kura-chan?"

"All I need to win against him, is one or two seconds of hesitation on his end." Kurapika finally looked up, his mind now made. "Danchou is obviously interested in my body, so I'm going to keep tempting him with it, so that he craves more from me. That's right, before I sink the nails on my chain into his skin, I will first wrap a chain around his heart."

"His heart♥?"

"That's right. I'm going to make him desire more than just my body, I'll make him fall in love with me to a point where he can't even breathe without thinking of me. I will have his heart, and pierce deep inside of it, until it is completely mine, and bleeds for only me." Kurapika said with fierce eyes. "And then when I kill his comrades, and he finds out about my betrayal, his heart will break into pieces. The pain will be too much for him to handle. Yes, I will make him love me so much that I won't even have to fight him in the end, he will willingly let me kill him."

"My, my, Kura-chan♥, you are really amazing, the things you say, and the plans you make~ Ahhhh, I have to calm down.... but this is too good, ooooh~" Hisoka said, his eyes cloudy with what Kurapika had come to know as lust. "~Hmmmm~ I wanna see it all, I want to see everything♦!"

"Sorry, but you'll only see the aftermath. Too bad you won't get to fight him." Kurapika declared, all the while flinching away from Hisoka's reach.

Instead of anger or disappointment, however, Hisoka only laughed. "Love is between two people, you know. You're a smart one, Kura-chan, surely you realise that the nails in that chain of yours won't pierce Chrollo's heart alone?"

_~What a dumb assessment, as if anything like that could ever happen.~_

"Bullshit, there is no way I'll ever let my heart be swayed, I've sheltered and guarded it for years, never letting anyone in closer than I could manage. Why on earth would I let that demon of all people have it? All that Chrollo Lucilfer is to me, is the detestable bastard who took everything from me." Kurapika declared confidently. 

In hindsight, a couple of months later, Kurapika wished he had taken Hisoka's smug, knowing look more seriously, before he let his heart be stolen by the devil.


	4. The Phantom Troupe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurapika joins the Nostrade Family, and he also gets to spend time with the Phantom Troupe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's been so long since my last update, I wonder if anyone is still reading this.

"Kurapika, come with me." Paku said, the following day, when the girls were moving into the Phantom building. "We need you to get your new identity and become familiar with it."

Kurapika obediently followed her up the stairs of the run-down apartment building to the second-floor. He wondered why the phantom troupe lived in a place like this, which was ruined when they clearly made a lot of money by robbing people but he didn't say anything. Paku led him in front of one of the doors and knocked.

"Come in." a voice said from the inside the apartment. It appeared to be a two-bedroom apartment separated by a small kitchen in the middle. To call it a kitchen was just a courtesy, because there were computer parts all over the floor, keyboards, broken down monitors and some wires as well as plugs were on the kitchen counters as well.

Paku barely blinked at the mess, as they went into one of the bedrooms in there, which seem to be the only one that was occupied. The room itself was a mess too, with two computers on the floor, a desk with a desktop and two laptops along with various other gadgets like a printer or copier and other ones that Kurapika did not know.

Sitting on the bed, typing something, was Shalnark.

"Sharl, is his identity ready?"

Shalnark looked up, "Just about." He stood up and pulled Kurapika with him to the side of his room, in front of a whiteboard. "I'm just about done, all I need is to print your ID card so I need a photo but otherwise all the background is done."

"Okay." Kurapika stood in front of the whiteboard and let Shalnark take a picture of him.

"As an extra precaution, Danchou said I should give you a male's identity. Though why is beyond me. We went through all the trouble to hire three girls, but he-"

"Sharl," Paku cut him off, "He probably has his reasons."

That was odd in Kurapika's mind, why would Chrollo let him disguise as a guy now? For what reason?

"All right, but you really think you can pass for a dude? There's no man in this world who looks this pretty." Shalnark said as the ID printed and he handed it to Kurapika.

It was strange looking at this fake ID that the phantom troupe had made for him, because Kurapika actually didn't have an identity since the death of his family. He hadn't had a home or even a real identity of himself. He looked at it, and didn't have his last name of course, but he was the first identity card he ever had.

"Thank you." he said to Shalnark, honestly.

"Ya know, I like you, such a shame that we are not able to share this room isn't it?" Shalnark said, and Kurapika didn't voice it, but he was grateful he he wasn't staying here. He wasn't sure if he could take having to dodge computers and broken cell phones everyday when he wanted to go somewhere.

"Wanna play poker with us sometime?" Shalnark offered. 

"She has work to do." Paku interjected. "Where's the rest of the information? The interview is in four hours, you know."

"Ah, yes. Now this is all the info on your personal history." Shalnark said printing out two papers as well as his CV.

"Wow, that's a lot of accomplishments that I have to memorise, and what about all these references?" Kurapika asked, "What if they decide to call them?"

"Don't worry about that, they all redirect to me. All these phones are mine, so you are good. Besides, they already called to check your references, you're practically hired. The interview is just a formality. All you need to do is impress them, like I said, my ID is rock solid."

"I see." Kurapika said.

"Enough chitchat, come on let's go. I'll come pick you up in three hours, memorize everything about that identity before then."

"Yes ma'am." Kurapika said as he went up to his room to start reading.

***

Later that day, Paku drove Kurapika to the Nostrade mansion.

"I hope you don't allow yourself to get distracted by anything." Paku said, looking at the road, her expression as always, serious and unreadable.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kurapika was just genuinely curious about what she meant, since she didn't seem to talk much.

"I just mean that you have your own goals for wanting to work with us, to infiltrate the Nostrade family, right? Don't lose sight of them and don't get distracted by Chrollo." She said, when she said his name, there was a slight flicker of emotion in her face that Kurapika was able to see.

_~Is that what this is about? Does she think I'm gonna be distracted by Chrollo Lucilfer?~_

But if so, what did that have to do with her?

"I don't understand what you mean. I'm going to be working along with you guys for a while, so isn't it better for me to get along with you all?" He asked, watching for any change in her expression. "I like spending time with Danchou too, he was teaching me a lot of things."

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel, "That's not what I mean and you know it, he's interested in you and you seem to be humouring him."

Kurapika said, "No offence Paku-san, but what does that have to do with you?"

This time she turned and looked at him, "Out of everyone, I've known Chrollo the longest. That's why I'm saying this, for your own good as well as his. He can't let go of the things that he finds beautiful, he has to experience them first."

"Well, that's a good thing isn't it? For me?"

"You may think that now but he when he sees something beautiful, he wants to possess it, and he steals it, looks at it and appreciates it but after a while, when he finds something more beautiful, he discard it, and focuses on the new thing." Paku told him, turning the corner. "So, basically what I'm saying is, don't get too attached and end up getting yourself hurt." 

Kurapika smiled, "I know you're not worried about me. And Danchou didn't steal me, he bought me. Like it or not, I belong to him. So what are you really afraid of? That _I'll_ distract him?" 

"Yes, this is an important time for us, this is an important job that we've been eyeing for quite a while. So do not distract him too much." She didn't dare look at Kurapika.

"Paku-san, you said you've known Danchou the longest out of everyone in the Troupe, right? Did you and he ever-"

"Chrollo is not interested in wom- Well, you're you the first woman he's ever... this isn't about me." Paku snapped, "Just make sure the mission comes first. Personal desires second." She said stopping the car in front of a large gate to the Nostrade estate.

"I got it Paku-san, don't worry. I know exactly what I'm doing." Kurapika said getting out of the car.

_~So, her weakness is her love for Chrollo Lucilfer. Maybe I can use that~_

***

The interview was taking place at the Nostrade mansion. From the time that Paku dropped him in front of the gate to when he finally reached the door of the massive house, felt like forever because the yard seemed like a long small town road.

A couple of dogs barked at Kurapika as they were guarding the door and he sidestepped past them and rang the doorbell. Within a minute, a tall man with short spiky hair let him in and led him around inside the house. As expected, the interior was just as fancy as the exterior of the house. Clearly, Kurapika thought, criminals in this country lived lavishly, his mind drifting to Chrollo's penthouse.

"Your name's Kurapika? No last name?" The man asked.

"Yes sir." Kurapika said, 

The man looked from the ID to him. "I'm Dallzone, the head of security here. Mr Nostrade is expecting you."

Dallzone knocked on a door, and a deep voice said, "Come in." And Kurapika made his way into the small office room.

Light Nostrade was standing with his back to Kurapika, looking outside the window.

"I brought him, sir." Dallzone said, and his master turned around. He looked typical of what Kurapika expected of a small-time mobster who have recently gained status thanks to his daughter.

"Good, you're here." Nostrade looked at him up and down, "You're not exactly what I expected,"

"Please do not be fooled by my appearance. I'm honoured to partake in this interview, and if you have any questions for me please let me know." Kurapika bowed.

"Well, your achievements speak for themselves. I'm very impressed that someone as skilled as you would choose to work for our family." Nostrade said, sitting down.

"I'm a freelancer, as long as you pay me enough, I will improve your security for you, and make sure that you get through this auction well." Kurapika responded.

"I already checked your references and everything checks out. We need you to keep our family's secrets." Nostrade said. "Can you do that?"

"Oh, thank you. I have my own reasons for working with you, but do not worry I will review your security and inform you of the best measures to take when it comes to protecting your family." Kurapika finally sat down on the chair offered to him.

"I'm very grateful to you, but the one who needs protection is not the family, it's my daughter. You see, she is very important in the underground." He said, twirling a pen, and sitting across from Kurapika. "You see, even the ten dons acknowledge her talent for-"

"Sir!" Dallzone warned, standing behind Nostrade.

Nostrade waved a hand in dismissal, and poured himself a glass of wine. "It's okay, he should know at least this much if he is to reassess our security."

The look on Dallzone's face was unchanged, however, he clearly did not trust Kurapika just yet.

"If you want me to sign an NDA, then I will, it's really nothing new in my line of work." Kurapika offered.

"Hmph." Dallzone snorted. "No need, in this business, you talk, you die."

"Now, now. Calm down, Dallzone. The truth is Neon, created this program, that can tell the future." Nostrade said.

Kurapika frowned, "The future?"

"As you know, all Mafia need to invest in legit businesses, otherwise we won't function in society." He said. "Neon's program is 99.7% accurate in making stock projections for months ahead of time. The dons pay a lot to know where to invest, and where 5o pull out their stocks."

"Of course, knowing ahead of time also makes them able to manipulate the results as well, so we need to keep Neon safe, lots of families want her... I know Kenji is hoping to use this auction to get her." He looked down. "That must not happen. She is the only hope our family has. Do you understand, if we lose her, the money stops coming in!"

Kurapika could not tell if he was genuinely concerned with his daughter's safety or if he just wanted to safeguard his source of income.

"She has to go to the auction as well, and I need her safe, especially since she has the auction's-"

"Boss!" Dallzone cut him off again.

"Ah yes, right... Anyway, Kurapika, I am hiring some new bodyguards to protect Neon. I need you to find any holes in our security system and fix them." Nostrade said.

'Your biggest problem is hiring a new security consultant and new bodyguards at the same time. It makes it easier for people to infiltrate your ranks.' Kurapika thought, but did not voice.

Instead, he nodded. "I already noticed a few things that need improving on my way here. But first, let me see the shortlisted candidates for the bodyguard position."

"Huh? Why would we show that to you?" Dallzone asked indignantly.

"He's our security consultant, he should have a say." Light Nostrade pulled out a file from his drawer. "These are the top ten candidates that we're interviewing tomorrow, in order of promise. The top four are most likely to get the job."

Kurapika looked through the file, Melody was getting in as Neon's teacher, but Baise needed to be hired as a bodyguard. Yet her file was number 8.

"This is ridiculous and predictable, your top four, are likely what an enemy would go for first." Kurapika shook his head.

"So, that just means they are good." Dallzone said.

"I don't dispute that, but I'd put her higher on your list." He pointed at Baise's file.

"Her? She's alright, but..." Nostrade frowned.

Kurapika had to get her in to win the troupe's trust. "You need someone inconspicuous like her. And she can watch over Neon 24/7, even when she's in the bathroom."

"Oh..." Dallzone blinked.

"That's quite a fair assessment. Thank you , Kurapika. Keep it up." Nostrade smiled.

"Right." Kurapika stood up. "Mr Dallzone, please take me around the perimeter, I need to evaluate your security.

This had been fairly simple, Kurapika was best at finding people's weaknesses and using those against them. Nostrade's weakness, his daughter.

***

At the end of the day, Kurapika finally went home, home being the troupe's building. He didn't have a lot of stuff, most of his belongings were on the caravan, on his family's land. Now he only had a few clothes, his laptop and his weapons, including his bokken and some of the drugs that he took from Leorio's clinic.

  
He finally got home, only to find half of the Phantom Troupe standing around a table, where Hisoka, Shizuku and Shalnark are sitted. As he comes in, Kurapika sees Shizuku throwing down her cards on the table.

"I fold." She said in resignation.

"Eh? Shizu!" Shalnark cried. "It's just me left huh?"

Machi smirked, looking at Hisoka's cards. "Give up, Sharl."

But then Uvogin placed his hand on Shalnark's shoulder. "You can do it, man. We're all fucked if you lose. I believe in you."

"Don't encourage him, Uvo. Ain't no way he's beating Hisoka." Phinks shook his head. 

Shalnark shuddered. "No one believes in me, except Uvo!"

Kurapika walked up to Machi, and asked, "What's going on?"

"Hmm?" She looked up. "Oh, you're new. We play card games every Friday, and this is Sharl's revenge match against Hisoka, but as you can see, he's losing. We all lost. No one can beat Hisoka at poker."

Oh, so they did this in their free time? Acting like normal people?

"Oh, well, he should just give up then." Kurapika said.

"Not you too, Kura!" Shalnark cried.

"She's only saying that cause she doesn't know the stakes." Phinks said.

"Stakes?"

"Yeah," Shizuku said in resignation. "If Hisoka wins, we all gotta play strip poker next week."

That might be a problem.

"Okay, show your cards." Franklin said enthusiastically, and sure enough, Shalnark had a straight, while Hisoka had four of a kind. 

Hisoka giggled, and looked at Kurapika, "I can't wait to see your clothes off, Kura-chan." 

Kurapika snorted, and went on his way up.

  
Apparently, his roommate was Feitan. Kurapika knew very little about the guy, aside from that he was a master of torture, and was the chief interrogator for the Phantom Troupe. Thankfully, their apartment wasn't as littered as Shalnark's, but there were different types of knives and swords hung on the wall.

  
There was also what looked to be a fireplace in the kitchen, on top of which was an oven looking thing which was suspiciously big enough to fit a human inside. There were also candles, a strange helmet and other weird instruments in there.

  
"Hello." A cool voice said, and Kurapika jumped, to see Feitan coming out of his room, an angle grinder in one hand, and two welding electrodes in the other.

  
"Oh, hi." Kurapika said, trying not to back away from this strange person, who apparently had an affinity for heat torture.

  
"Feitan." He said. He did not say much, but Kurapika caught a glimpse of an accent

  
"I'm Kurapika, nice to meet you. I'll be taking the other room in this apartment." He bowed.

  
Feitan frowned. "Paku said."

  
"Oh, she did, huh." Kurapika nodded. "Well then, let's get along, no getting in each other's way and stuff. Just knock before using the bathroom and all that." He added, since he was supposed to be a girl.

  
Feitan had an unreadable expression. "#$#&##$$&@&#." He said, in a language Kurapika could not understand.

  
"Sorry?"

  
"Hmmm, my swords....I make...." Feitan said. He held up the tools in his hands. "High...sound..."

  
Kurapika blinked. "Oh! You make your own swords, so when you're welding, it can be noisy?"

  
Feitan nodded.

  
"Ah, okay. I understand." Kurapika smiled, trying to understand this guy was interesting, he thought, as Feitan went back into his room. 

  
Tired from the day's events, Kurapika falls asleep quickly.

  
The next day, he had to meet with Light Nostrade, as Dallzone went to assess the bodyguard candidates. With Dallzone gone, Kurapika saw this as a chance to get Nostrade to lower his guard. Kurapika was sure there was more to Nostrade suddenly wanting more protection for his daughter. So, he took one of his drugs, an ampoule of dormicum, and went to the Nostrade mansion. He wanted to use some on Nostrade, get him to loosen his inhibitions a little.

Sure enough, he managed to pour the contents into Nostrade's wine, and as he sat there, reciting improvements that could be done in his security, he could see his mind start to wander.

"Mr Nostrade, are you okay?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah...just a bit...dizzy." he muttered. "The stress is getting to me. I need to protect my daughter."

"Of course," Kurapika said with a gentle smile. "She'll be fine."

"You know...for a guy, you got a real pretty face..." He said.

The strength of the drug wasn't that strong, but it had allowed him to relax more, become a little more docile, but otherwise, he was still himself.

"Thank you?" Kurapika bit back a frown, and smiled instead, leaning on the desk. "Tell me, why are you so worried about Neon?"

"Well, that is a bit..." He blinked.

"Ah, I see... It's a secret." Kurapika pouted.

"No, no. You're our security consultant, you deserve to know." Nostrade finally said. "The truth is Neon developed the system by which the underground products are being submitted for the underground auction, on the dark web."

Kurapika's eyes widened. This was even better than he'd thought, in fact, he could start laying a trap for Uvogin right away. 

"She projects which items are likely to sell, and which ones aren't. Bidding has already started, but well, obviously, you have to go to the actual auction to get the items..." Nostrade's hands shook. She's the only person in the world who knows everything about this auction. If that information leaks or gets stolen...hell, if the website crashes, our family is done for."

"Surely, they wouldn't..."

"My daughter is quite skilled with computers and that's helped us to gain a way in with the ten dons... but should we lose it...!" Nostrade seemed frustrated and scared, even in this state.

Kurapika had to make his move now, but he was hesitant.

Wasn't the reason why he was supposed to pretend to be a girl so that he'd be able to charm this gangster into telling him everything about his security systems? He didn't know if he was into guys. Kurapika sighed. Why did Chrollo make things complicated all of a sudden?

Kurapika could tell he was primarily concerned with his family status and as well as protecting his daughter to ensure that his status remained intact, so he probably hadn't been with anyone in a while. Kuaprka leaned in, and placed a gentle hand on Nostrade's own.

"I know someone. A guy I've worked with before. He's an online security expert. He works remotely, you don't even have to see him." Kurapika said.

Nostrade blinked again. "A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, goes by the name Chain. He can do the online security for Neon." Kurapika breathed, hand still on Nostrade's. "All you gotta do, is say the word." He said, in as sincere a voice as he could muster.

"Well, alright, then. No one can know I've hired additional security...this stays between us, right?"

"Of course."

_~I am in.~_

"I promise, I will protect your daughter. I won't let her come to any harm." Kurapika said, and at the time, he meant it.

*** 

Shalnark was a pretty strong hacker, so in order to keep his website intact, without the troupe finding out about him owning it, to ensure it was non traceable. For that he needed someone who was good with computers.

Kurapika sighed. He really did not want to do this, but he made the call anyway.

"Hello? Well this is a surprise." Killua said from the other end of the line.

"Hi Killua, how are you?"

"I should be asking you that. You know how worried everyone is about you? Leorio enlisted Gon and I to help him search for you, you know." Killua sounded a little angry.

"I'm not missing, I'm in the middle of something. To that end, I need your help." Kurapika said.

There was a pause, "What have you gotten yourself into? What do you need?"

"Can you send me your brother's contact details?"

"You know how many brothers I've got?"

"Milluki."

Killua's response sounded bewildered, "What on earth do you want with Miluki's contacts? Kurapika, what are you-"

"I need to purchase his services, that is all."

"What? If you need to kill someone, I can-"

Kurapika sighed. "There is no need. I just need his technological expertise."

It was quiet for a moment, then, "Okay, but on one condition. Call Leorio."

_~Leorio~_

There was no way he was calling the only person he's ever allowed himself to keep in his heart, he could not waver, not now, not when he'd come this far.

"You know I can't do that." Kurapika said sadly, "He'd just try to stop me."

"Look, I don't know what you're doing, but knowing you, it's probably reckless as hell. So maybe you do need to be stopped." Killua shouted.

"If you don't give me Milluki s number, I'm gonna get caught, and probably killed."

Killua swore on the other end of the line, "You should know better than to use emotional blackmail.... Fine I'll text you his numbers."

"Thank you." Kurapika didn't feel good about using this method either, but it got results.

"This goes without saying, but, I'm going to tell the others about this. We'll come find you." Killua said obstinately. "Just...be careful, you idiot."

In spite of himself, Kurapika smiled before ending the call. Even though he told himself that her severed those ties, it was nice to know that there were people who still worried about him.

~

It wasn't hard to hire Milluki, all it took was the promise that he'd have access to the top secret list of items to be auctioned, and he was sold. He would provide the online security for Neon's website, and since he was a professional, Kurapika could trust that he wouldn't leak any of his secrets....as long as he got paid.

***

Trying to sleep while Feitan was busy welding or whatever it is he did at night, was a futile effort. Kurapika lay awake in bed, exhausted, but finally at ease that his plan was on track now. All he had to do was find a way to get Uvo away from Nobunaga for one day, then kill him. That was easier said than done. The phantom troupe went around in pairs, and Uvo and Nobunaga were particularly joined at the hip.

His phone rang, startling him. He blinked at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Pika.,..are you still awake?" Chrollo Lucilfer said on the other side of the line. Kurapika rolled on the bed until he was facing up.

"I share an apartment with Feitan. I can't sleep." He replied.

Chrollo chuckled. "You'll get used to him, he's just shy." He said. "So, how was your first day, were you able to get Nostrade?"

_~Get him?~_

"I think he trusts me." He said. "But what's this? I gotta report to Paku-san, and you as well? I thought she'd inform you."

"She did." Chrollo lowered his voice. "I just wanted to hear your voice."

Kurapika ignored the odd feeling he had that Chrollo was being sincere. "Don't tease me, Danchou."

"Chrollo."

"What?"

"When it's just the two of us, you can call me Chrollo."

Kurapika blinked, shutting down a quick heat wave that passed through his heart. "You've heard my voice. Can I sleep now sir?" He asked quietly.

"Just answer me this." The voice on the other end sounded, for the first time since Kurapika had known him, a bit hesitant. "What's your relationship with Hisoka?"

"What?" The question threw Kurapika off, catching him completely off guard.

"You've been to his club frequently, right? Don't let him lead you own, everything is a game to him. You should give up. He's with Illumi." Chrollo clarified. Before Kurapika could respond, he continued. "Well, they're in a very open relationship, but still, you know isn't it better to steer clear of people like-"

"Hold on, Danchou." Kurapika finally cut him off. "I'm not into Hisoka, he's not my type at all. I mean he flirts with me occasionally, but I just ignore him really..."

"Is that so?" Was it his imagination, or did Chrollo sound a bit happier. Was this jealousy? Should Kurapika fuel it or clear Chrollo's suspicions so that he can pay more attention to him if he thinks he's emotionally available? "So then, how do you know each other?"

"He's my life saviour." He answered honestly.

"What?" Chrollo was surprised.

"He saved my life from a very dangerous criminal a while ago. I'm sure he did it for his own amusement, but I still owe him a life debt."

"I see, so that's all it is. How reassuring." Chrollo muttered.

"Danchou, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you have me disguise as a man?"

Silence, then a soft reply. "I thought that would be more comfortable for you."

_~He was being compassionate?~_

Outside his control, Kurapika felt a short wave of warmth pass through his heart.

"You didn't have to. Either way is fine with me. I've spent so much of my life switching between a girl and a boy....that I'm comfortable with both. So, I'm a man on the outside and on the inside, but... there's a woman in there somewhere too." That was strange, Kurapika had never told anyone this before.

"Oh, I did something unnecessary. I'm sorry." Chrollo apologised softly.

A reaction Kurapika was not expecting. He held the phone tightly in his hand, the other squeezing a pillow so hard it might break.

"You don't think it's weird that I'm like that?"

"Why would I? You're free to be whoever you please. No one can take your identity from you."

Kurapika breathed, a breath that he'd been holding inside, something like relief, absolution coming over him. "You're..."

_~confusing~_

"...good with your words... Thank you."

"Well then, goodnight Pika." Chrollo sounded like he was smiling.

Was this the reason why he called?

"Goodnight sir."

So, this meant that he really could manipulate Chrollo into falling in love with him, since Chrollo didn't have any weaknesses, he would make himself Chrollo's weakness. And exploit that weakness when the time came for them to fight.

***

Kurapika had been busy working with the Nostrade Family both as himself and as Chains in the past week, preparing for the auction, and co-ordinating with the security team. This has left very little time for him to put his plan about Chrollo into action. Paku was on his ass, demanding reports of everything regarding the structure of the security system and anything that he could find out about the other families that would be at the auction. Her main interest of course was in the goods and packages that were to be sold at the auction. The top secret list of the items, had been given to Nostrade by Neon, and the website was created on the dark web that only the members of the organsed crime community could access. That allowed them to bid on the items that they wanted in advance. Kurapika, having obtained the list, as Chain, had to share it with Paku.

On this day, however, he had a day off, so he chose to get back to his secondary goal, to capture Chrollo Lucilfer's heart. He watched the hotel from outside, waiting, and wondering if he should go in and visit him. Would that be suspicious? After all he had been pretty clear about his disinterest in Chrollo previously. As he was contemplating the fact, he saw Chrollo coming out of the hotel, looking leisurely as always, his long fluffy coat flowing behind him. He was walking slowly, and since he was not taking his car, Kurapika wondered if maybe he was not going far. If he just up and approached Chrollo, it could seem planned. 

In light of this thinking, Kurapika, gauged Chrollo's general direction, then he turned onto the next street, running quickly down the road, and turning back into the previous street. He went into a convenience store there, and waited inside, by the clear glass walls visible to the outside. He spied Chrollo coming closer, and Kurapika went and stood by the glass wall, pretending to be looking at a box of cereal, hoping that Chrollo would turn and see him. He didn't move, reading the ingredients on that one box, twice through. Suddenly, in his pocket, his phone rang.

Chrollo Lucilfer.

Kurapika put the box back on the shelf, and answered the phone, not turning to look outside the shop.

"Hello, Danchou." He answered.

"Ha, you're still on that shit? I told you to call me by my name." Chrollo said. "Anyway, where are you?"

"I'm just in town, buying stuff." Kurapika told him. "I'm close to your hotel actually. I'm pretty busy so, is there something you need?"

"Busy?" He chuckled. "Liar. I'm looking at you right now."

_~So, you do see me.~_

"What? Where are you?" Kurapika asked, pretending to look around the store in surprise.

"I'm outside, turn around."

When he turned to look at Chrollo's amused face through the glass, Kurapika was unsure of what expression to wear. Which was the appropriate one? Which would Chrollo appreciate more? He settled for a surprised smile.

"Come out." 

Kurapika followed the command, a few quick steps out of the store, and he was standing right in front of Chrollo.

"Danchou, what are you doing here?" Kurapika asked, feigning interest.

"I wanted to paint something, but my favourite paintbrush was broken. I came to get a new one." He said. "Care to join me?"

So, that really was his canvas that Kurapika had seen at the penthouse.

"Sure, I got nothing else to do." He said trying not to sound eager. This was a good opportunity to speak with Chrollo with his guard down. Perhaps he could find out his interests and use that to get closer to him.

He fell into step next to Chrollo. "Do you paint a lot?" He asked.

"No. It's a hobby, I do it when I'm thinking. I just like the arts."

Kurapika found his short answer unsatisfactory. "Oh, I see, that's why you read so much, and why you have a piano in your bedroom huh?" He mused.

"Well, officially, music is my source of income. So I do play from time to time for private audiences." Chrollo said leading the way.

"Hmmm." Kurapika said. He knew this much about the man from years of research on the troupe. "So you're an artist huh...There's also a lot of paintings on your wall too. But I guess reading really is the closest thing to your heart."

Chrollo stopped so suddenly that Kurapika almost ran into him. "If I recall correctly, I was the one who said I wanted to learn more about you, but you seem quite interested in me, Pika. I'm surprised."

_~Am I pushing too much? Should I give him a carrot?~_

"Well," Kurapika looked down, "A handsome man follows you around, says he thinks you're pretty and invites you to his bed... anyone would be curious." He mumbled, hoping he looked embarrassed.

This pleased Chrollo greatly because he smiled. "Not pretty. Beautiful."

This time, Kurapika didn't have to fake his face turning red.

"You're cute too." Chrollo smiled pleasently. "So, how's the job going? You settling in good?"

Kurapika looked away, hoping his face looked annoyed. "I tell Paku-san everything, isn't she like, your second or some shit?"

"Hmm, what's that look?"

"Nothing." Kurapika looked down. He would use this opportunity to get some information on Chrollo. He was Paku's weakness, but was she his as well. "I just...she seemed interested in whatever relationship you have with me, I was wondering if you guys ever... You know..."

"I have no interest in women, well, I guess you're kinda the first." Chrollo said plainly. "Say, Pika, are you jealous of Paku?" His voice sounded kind of smug, so Kurapika refused to meet his eyes.

"Relax, she's known me the longest along with Uvo, Machi, Fei, Frank and Nobu. We practically grew up together in meteor city. She worries too much about me, and if I'm not there, she looks after the troupe." Chrollo explained. "If I were a normal person, I guess you could say she is the closest thing I have to a best friend."

So, that's how it was. Paku's feelings were one-sided, but she still meant a lot to Chrollo. It seemed like he was childhood friends with Uvogin as well.

_~Good, I should put my plan into full effect to kill Uvogin, that should also make even a heart as hard as stone like his soften with pain. ~_

"We're here." Chrollo snapped him out of his daydream and led him into a large bookstore that also sold different types of other accessories.

They passed by the classics shelves, and Kurapika looked around at a few of Shakespeare's plays. He remembered that Chrollo had a wide array of these books in his penthouse.

"You like Shakespeare?" Chrollo asked.

"I like some of his works." Kurapika responded, looking up at him.

"Which one's your favourite?"

"Titus Andronicus." Kurapika said honestly. "Hamlet too."

"_Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head."_ Chrollo quoted from the play, "You're the first person I know who's got Titus Andronicus as their favourite. You like revenge tragedies?"

"I relate to them. What's _your_ favourite play by Shakespeare?" He asked him, genuinely curious.

He picked up a book from the shelf and showed him. Othello.

"Seriously? Who's your favourite character? Iago?" Kurapika questioned.

Chrollo smiled, "You know me so well." He said putting the book back. "If you come see me in my house, we can talk all about my interest in crafty manipulative men, and your inclination for revenge." He started moving on.

Kurapika followed him closely as Chrollo strolled around the store, he went straight down to the art supplies section. He looked down at the small containers holding the paintbrushes. "Hmm, I want two of these smaller ones," he picked them up, "and maybe this one," he muttered to himself looking at a bigger one.

Kurapika left him to it, and looked around the shelves, stopping by the jewelry section to look at necklaces. There was a pretty good one that he thought Alluka might like. It was costume jewelry, so it was quite affordable. He'd buy it to thank Killua for his help.

"You like jewelry?" Chrollo asked softly appearing behind him.

"I like diamonds." He responded honestly.

"Hmm, what do you think of those?" Chrollo asked gesturing to a pair of diamond earrings.

"They're adorable, but whoa, that price tag, wasn't made for me. Too expensive." He said, taking the gold necklace, but then Chrollo moved ever so slightly, a movement barely noticeable, blocking the store's camera. He quickly pulled one pair of the earrings off the shelf, and then swiftly, but effortlessly, removed the tags.

"What are you-"

"Shhhh." He said dropping them, in a single, very subtle movement, into Kurapika's pocket.

Chrollo smiled wickedly.

There was a heaving in Kurapika's chest, his heart lurched up, and increased it's beat. He was carrying a stolen item in his pocket right now.

Chrollo winked, "See you outside." And leisurely walked out of the store, probably with all the brushes he needed.

Now, Kurapika was no saint, he'd done illegal shit to get back his family's diamonds, prostitution, assault, poisoning among others. _But he never stole. He didnt want to be like the bastards who killed his family._ He'd fought against various gangs in the past few years, the thrill of fighting his only solace in his dark world, his heart pounding... Looking ahead but not seeing, ready to lose and yet giving his all in the fights. That was how it felt back then. 

He felt the same now, walking towards the pay counter, holding the necklace, the only thing he could afford right now. The earrings in his pocket felt heavy, but he would not allow himself to tremble or sweat, that would give him away. Nonchalantly, he paid for the necklace, and made his way out of the shop, strolling carefree, until he got outside.

He didn't know if it was the nerves, the fear or just the downright thrill of stealing so openly, all he knew in this moment was....

He felt so fucking alive.

He continued walking normally, down the street until the shop was out of site. Chrollo was waiting for him by the corner. Finally Kurapika breathed. He let out two, three, four heavy breaths before clutching his heart.

"Well, how was it?" Chrollo asked, watching him proudly.

"You're crazy! You're crazy, you know that? You could have bought that!" Kurapika gasped, hitting him in the chest slightly.

"Why, when I can get it for you for free?" He asked, reaching into Kurapika's pocket and pulling out the earrings, and putting them on Kurapika's ears. "Perfect. And all it cost, was a little bit of your morality."

"That's not cheap, you know."

"Hmm, next time, let's get you a designer dress that goes with the earrings." Chrollo mused. "There's a fancy boutique I know that we can hit up...It's big, they've got loss prevention, and a shitton of cameras too. I'll teach you how to navigate them...next time?"

It sounded like both an offer, and a question. Kurapika figured he might as well take it. 

"Sure, it's a date." Kurapika smiled, in spite of himself, "I swear, you're a bad influence on me, Chrollo."

Chrollo's eyes widened when Kurapika said his name, and his face darkened, without warning, Kurapika found himself pulled, and pinned between Chrollo and the wall of a shop on the idle street.

"C-Chr-" Kurapika stuttered in surprise.

"Continue." Chrollo whispered, his face too close, breath on Kurapika's face.

_~I need to take a breath, push him away, take control...~_

But when Kurapika looked up at those intense gray eyes, he found he couldn't hold them, they seemed intent on unfolding everything that he was keeping secret, so he looked away.

"I can be an even worse influence on you...." Chrollo muttered. "Strange, I usually appreciate beauty, but...I want to defile you."

"Stop, you said...you.... said, you wouldn't..." Kurapika muttered.

But one of Chrollo's fingers found its way under his chin, forcing him to look back up at Chrollo. An unknown anticipation colouring his eyes.

Chrollo kissed him. The gentleness of his lips stood in stark contrast to his rough demeanor, the sweetness of the kiss burning warmth in Kurapika's mouth. The touch was soft, tender and endearing to taste, yet unwavering in showing its master's desire. Kurapika closed his eyes and let it happen for a moment. He let himself be pulled in to the devil's kiss, realising the danger of allowing his heart to beat in response to the lips moving in his, and the hand pulling on his hair. But unable to pull himself out of it, until Chrollo himself stepped back.

"Oops, I stole it." Chrollo said, licking his lips.

Kurapika didn't dare speak. He was afraid what might come out would be inaudible sounds not words.

"It was nice spending time with you." Chrollo said, finally stepping back. "Come visit me sometime, Pika."

And then Chrollo left, taking with him whatever breath was in Kurapika's chest, and whatever energy was in his knees causing him to slide down the wall and kneel down on the ground, breathing heavily.

***

He must not waver.

He must hardern his heart.

Even though the phantom troupe pretended to live like humans, to feel like humans, to play like humans, at heart, they were all monsters.

To calm himself down, to erase everything that happened today, Kurapika began to set the trap for his first victim. He had everything ready now, all that's left is to get Uvogin into it.

Yes. He would kill the asshole that killed his best friend, and when Chrollo found out, it would hurt him, make him more vulnerable. In his pain, Kurapika would swoop in. 

_~I can use that. In his grief, I will comfort him, hold him in my arms, gently and get closer to him. Then, I will destroy him.~_


End file.
